5. |
Russia, Central Asia, and the Caucasus |
Japan and Russia are important neighbors in the Asia-Pacific region. Building appropriate relations as partners in this region facing drastic changes, and deepening cooperation and ties in all fields including politics, economy, culture, and the international arena are not only in the strategic interests of both countries, but also can contribute to regional stability and prosperity. From this perspective, Japan and Russia conducted dialogues at diverse levels throughout 2010, including three summit meetings and two foreign ministers’ meetings.
Russia is pursuing development in the Far East and Eastern Siberia, with an aim to integrating itself with the Asia-Pacific region. Russia is also advancing a policy of economic “modernization,” and it has shown certain expectations of an interest in cooperation with Japan. However, an extremely regrettable incident occurred in November 2010: President Medvedev visited Kunashiri Island in the Northern Territories the first head of state of Russia or the Soviet Union. Russia has also been putting energy into social and economic development programs in the Northern Territories.
Amid these developments, Japan’s has been conducting a consistent policy toward Russia to conclude a peace treaty by resolving the outstanding. At the same time, it is also important that negotiations bring about win-win negotiations for both Japan and Russia. From that perspective, Japan will continue to work towards the resolution of the territorial issue based on the agreements and documents produced by agreement of both countries and on the principles of law and justice. Japan will also make efforts to develop relations with Russia in all fields, including economic areas.
The countries of Central Asia and the Caucasus occupy an important position in geopolitical terms as the regions link Asia with Europe, and Russia with the Middle East. The maintenance of peace and prosperity in these regions, therefore, benefits the whole of Eurasia. These regions, abundant in energy and mineral resources, are also important from the perspective of diversification of natural resources and energy supply of Japan which intends to strengthen its relations with the countries of these regions. In that regard, cooperation under framework of the “Central Asia plus Japan” Dialogue, which Japan has been advancing since 2004, is contributing to the regional stability and the promotion of inter-regional cooperation. It is also in deepening wide-ranging and cooperative relations between Japan and these regions.