/REPEAT/JAPAN: India Quake Nudges Tokyo Beyond Chequebook Diplomacy

By Suvendrini Kakuchi Reprint | | Print |

Suvendrini Kakuchi

TOKYO, Feb 8 2001 (IPS) - Japan’s prompt response to the devastating earthquake that hit India has been yet another chance for Tokyo to show it can go beyond ‘chequebook diplomacy’ and pitch in to help countries needing assistance, say experts here.

“Japan, as the most earthquake-prone country in the industrialised world, must become the leader in helping Asian countries hit be natural disasters,” stated on national television this week.

Japan had earlier pledged 160,000 dollars to India for the Jan, 26 temblor, then added an extra emergency aid budget of 2.3 million dollars more as the death toll climbed to at least 20,000.

But in addition to giving funds, Japanese military cargo planes are now in the western Indian city of Bhuj in Gujarat state, bringing in shipments of tents and blankets for hundreds of thousands of victims.

Tokyo’s dispatch of its Self-Defense Forces, as its military forces are called, represents the second time Japanese forces have been sent overseas following their involvement in relief operations for the 1998 hurricane disaster in Honduras.

“Indeed, Japan is moving away from its chequebook diplomacy and doing far more by sending personnel as well,” says Prof. Toshiyuki Katada, an earthquake expert at Musashi Technical University.

“The move reflects growing confidence in its ability to lead in Asia and helps Japan to develop closer ties with a region that is very important to us,” adds Katada, who spoke at the World Conference on Natural Disasters here.

The Self-Defence Forces also conducted training sessions for local Indian officials on how to set up tents to shelter the hundreds of thousands who have been rendered homeless in Gujarat.

In addition, government fact-finding missions are also visiting earthquake-torn villages to determine the extent of assistance needed to rebuild homes.

Japanese medical doctors and rescue workers, from both the government and non-governmental sectors, have also been dispatched to the area.

The local media, which usually neglects coverage of most of Asia, has covered the Indian earthquake and its implications for reconstruction and India’s economy in detail.

A special half-hour focus programme on the situation was carried on NHK, Japan’s national television, earlier this week. The programme covered the lack of sanitation, medical care and psychological care for the victims with a commentary by experts who called for more relief from Tokyo.

“The concern on the part of Japan is growing and very welcome. I sometimes feel that the display is even bigger than what was reflected when Kobe was struck (six years ago),” comments Sojiro Kawamura, is a victim of the Kobe earthquake and head of Hyogo Disaster Victims Group.

The group is a non-governmental organisation that is negotiating for better housing for thousands of people who lost their homes in that temblor. More than 5,000 people died in that quake, which occurred in January 1995.

The two-day World Conference on Natural Disasters 2001 here brought together some 230 disaster prevention officials and experts from more than 20 countries.

Participants at the conference agreed that a centre be set up an office in Kobe, in south-western Japan, to monitor disasters around the world, around the clock.

Katada, an expert on ground seismology, says Japan’s expertise both in technology and training plus its financial prowess has made it possible to help other countries.

“Particular areas where Japan can contribute is the transfer of superior construction techniques to make earthquake resistant buildings as well as sharing information on its sophisticated communications network in case of a disaster,” he explained.

Katada points out that the lack of safe building techniques contributed to a high number of human losses in India and other developing countries such as Turkey, when disasters like massive quakes strike.

The rebuilding of Kobe has concentrated on earthquake- resistant technology, but Katada says the new stipulations are costly and may not be affordable in developing countries.

“But still Japan can teach and advise on the basics of better construction techniques and in this respect can not only take leadership in Asia but also in Africa as well,” he points out.

Experts say that the Kobe earthquake proved to the turning point in Japan’s natural-disaster policies — something that India may well learn from.

“The Japanese realised that devastation caused by an earthquake can not only cause harm to people but also can wipe out the local economy. The Kobe situation forced Japan to pull up its socks even though there is still a long way to go before we can say we are well-prepared,” says Katada.

Kazuo Kojima of the Japan National Research Institute for Earth, Science and Disaster Prevention, the main organisation that deals with natural disasters that hit the country, says Japan is preparing for more work in helping Asian countries to deal with typhoons, earthquakes and floods.

“The first step is to build a cooperation network between countries, and scientists in the organisation are looking into this development with India,” he says.