As expected, the recent Tokyo summit between US President Donald J Trump and new Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi went off well. Observers say that the Washington- Tokyo bonhomie is attaining new highs in their relations today. Relations between the United States and Japan have been deep-rooted since the cold war. Thanks to the US defense umbrella Japan has had since the end of the Second World War, it has been able to focus on its development and, in the process, transform itself into an “economic superpower” in the contemporary world.

In their Tokyo dialogue, both Prime Minister Takaichi and President Trump achieved most of their urgent goals. The two leaders had an agreement to cooperate on the rare-earth and critical minerals. Both of them have been worried about China’s dominance in the rare earths sector. According to an estimate, China today processes more than 90% of the world’s rare earths. The United States controls just 12%. With the new agreement on the rare earths, Japan and the United State would now be able to reduce their dependence on China in this sector.

During the Tokyo summit, President Trump and Prime Minister Takaichi agreed to a deal on the new-generation nuclear power reactors. This would enable Japan to enhance its much-needed nuclear power generation. Japan had to shut down all its reactors after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster (2011).

The observers say Prime Minister Takaichi would now do well to push forward Japan’s defense capabilities. Japan today needs to develop an autonomous strategy. So far, it has served largely as supplementary to the US military’s might in the region. It is to be seen how Prime Minister Takaichi moves forward in this direction. She has recently declared that she wants to push forward the country’s present goal of raising defense spending to 2 percent of gross domestic product; she wants to this objective in the current fiscal year itself.

Prime Minister Takaichi has also to see to it that Washington moves towards fulfilling its role to maintain the world order based on peace and justice. Washington today looks hardly inclined to it. It may be recalled that Takaichi’s mentor and former Prime Minister Abe Shinzo had very close ties with President Trump. But Abe failed to bring Trump back to the global order after the latter left the Paris Agreement to prevent global warming.

The observers add Japan today is expected to undertake multilateral diplomacy centered on shared democratic values and deepen its cooperation with the like-minded nations, such as South Korea, in the Indo-Pacific region. Japan is also expected to make greater efforts in economic and humanitarian relief programs today. This is indispensable since the Trump administration has dismantled the US Agency for International Development.

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