India, Japan And Australia Working On Trilateral Supply Chain To Reduce Dependency On China

Amid China's aggressive political and military behaviour, India, Japan and Australia have begun talks for launching a trilateral Supply Chain Resilience Initiative (SCRI) to reduce dependency on Beijing, reports Economic Times.

According to the report, the initiative was first proposed by Japan and is now taking shape.

Stressing on the urgency to take the initiative forward, Japan through its Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry had recently approached India.

The three countries are now working on fixing dates for the first meeting of the their respective commerce and trade ministers by next week.

Amid the tension with China at the line of actual control (LAC) in Ladakh, India has taken the proposal quite seriously, contrary to its erstwhile approach of considering any such proposal cautiously.

The development comes after PM Modi's Independence Day speech in which he asserted that businesses have started viewing India as a possible "hub for supply chains" and that the country should also "make for the world".

The objective of the Japanese proposal is to make the Indo-Pacific region and "economic powerhouse" by attracting foreign direct investment as well as building mutually complementary ties among partner countries.

Under the proposal, the aim is to work out a plan to build on the existing bilateral supply chain networks. India and Japan already have an Indo-Japan Industrial Competitiveness Partnership that deals with locating Japanese firms in India.

After an understanding emerges among India, Japan and Australia, the initiative could also be thrown open for the ASEAN countries.

The purpose of the SCRI is to improve supply chain resilience across the Indo-Pacific.