Abe departs: Will India-Japan relations remain as strong as under him?

India's significance as a countervailing force against China in Asia may well diminish under his successor

Shinzo Abe has resigned after an unprecedented eight years in office, making him the longest serving prime minister of Japan. He will be missed in Japan where he was able to orient the country towards a more forward looking economic strategy with his “three arrows” of an expansive monetary policy, a flexible fiscal policy and structural reforms to raise productivity and restore growth. He may not have achieved all his objectives but Japan’s extended period of economic stagnation did give way to modest stirrings of life. The Covid-19 has dealt a severe blow to Japan’s economy but its recovery will