As Beijing raises the stakes in Japan's contiguous zone as well as territorial waters in East China Sea, Japan is looking increasingly at India as an indispensable partner in preventing China from altering the maritime status quo in South China Sea where it is not itself party to any territorial dispute. "We are encouraging India to speak up on issues related to South China Sea because maritime security is important," said Yuki Tamura, deputy director of Japan foreign ministry's regional policy division which handles South China Sea, told TOI. The last summit in Delhi saw the two leaders introducing a mention of South China Sea specifically in the India-Japan joint statement.Japan is worried thatin South China Sea in the wake of an international tribunal ruling dismissing Beijing's 9-dash line, which lays claim to almost 90 per cent of SCS waters, will eventually spill over to East China Sea.Indeed, even before the ruling, there were signs that China was looking to test the resolve of Japan Coast Guard. This was followed within a week by a Chinese spy ship venturing into Japan's territorial sea. He didn't believe Japan and China would go to war over the islands but added that a "skirmish" was entirely possible.

Source: Times of India October 23, 2016 16:55 UTC