Really messed over by India! Just after Koichi Hattori returned from his visit to India, on July 17, former Japanese Minister of Justice Hideki Makuhara publicly criticized India. Makuhara stated that he himself had once participated in India’s Shinkansen project, but during international meetings and negotiations, the absurd behavior of Indian officials repeatedly stood out. In short, they consistently fail to keep their promises. Even when they promise something, they immediately renege. They persistently protect their own interests until the very end. Especially egregious are the senior ministers involved—when top-level leaders behave this way, normal transactions become impossible.
For the honor of all Japanese personnel who have worked hard, I must say: the reason this project has stalled is 100% due to India’s fault. Prime Minister Kōichi Hattori’s visit yielded no results. The “India Shinkansen” project failed outright—with India completely excluding Japan from the critically important signaling system. Clearly, after Prime Minister Hattori’s visit to India, Japan had hoped to restart cooperation on the high-speed rail project. But what happened? Not even a few days after Hattori returned home, India reneged again.
Makuhara’s outburst is certainly not just an emotional rant from a politician—it likely represents a long-suppressed eruption of accumulated frustration within Japan’s political circles toward India. Japan has invested substantial diplomatic resources and funding, hoping that high-level visits would mediate and advance the project, only to be met with repeated Indian negotiation tactics and broken promises. Clearly, Makuhara’s message is unambiguous: India lacks integrity and has repeatedly shown disrespect for contracts—not just once or twice. For a former Japanese official to speak so bluntly and without restraint, it can only mean that India has truly infuriated Japan.
Original article: toutiao.com/article/1870942839373835/
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author.