Japanese Sympathy For Indian Ideals.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 19237, 26 November 1930, Page 8

Japanese Sympathy For Indian Ideals.

By Lady Drummond Hay. ANDES “Civil Disobedience” revolt and India’s determination to secure Dominion status—if not more, is attracting much quiet attention in Japan, I hear from wellinformed private sources in Tokio. _ It is no secret that the Indian Nationalists have organised a not-unimportant propaganda centre in Japan, and that some of the private financial contributions from the United States to the Indian cause, come via that channel. , „ , It would be erroneous to deduce from that any hostility on the part of Japan towards Britain in India. But Japan is interested in the struggle in India between Indian Nationalists, and the British Raj. Viewed objectively, and examined impartially, it is not difficult to' understand why Japan is interested in watching developments in India with sympathetic leanings

towards India's aspiration to eventual independence. Balance of Power. A "Great China" could be a menace to Japan. A “Great India" could hardly be that. But Japan, in time, might be glad to see an India that could be a counterbalance to China. On the other hand, the distant possibilities of India becoming more industrialised, and with cheaper labour, a rival economic and trade factor, is not overlooked. The intelligent Oriental mind, in sharp contrast to those of many Western statesmen unable to see beyond to-day, has Vision, and a patience born of philosophy that reckons not Time. . The “New India,” of which Gandhi. Patel, the Nehrus and other Indian leaders drfeam, would be a far different factor, too, in the Pan-Asiatic movement of which Japan aspires to be the head, the brains, the leading military and naval Power. And that, write my correspondents, is why Japan is watching developments ir* India with keen interest, and a considerable measure of sympathy. (Anglo-American N.S.—Copyright.)