Objectives and Dynamics of Japanese Aid Policy in South Asia (1991–2022)

The study examines the objectives and dynamics of Japan’s aid policy in South Asia from 1991 to 2022. Currently, South Asia is one of the key regions for Japanese foreign policy and foreign economic strategy. The purpose of the study is to determine whether there is a correlation between Japan’s foreign policy interests in South Asia and the dynamics of Japanese Official Development Assistance to this region, and to establish the nature of this assistance. For this purpose, Japan’s bilateral ODA in India, Bangladesh and Pakistan is examined in detail within the theoretical framework of “mercantilism, humanitarianism and gaiatsu” and its relationship with Japanese foreign policy strategy is evaluated using frame analysis, political-descriptive method, document analysis method and descriptive statistics method. The study confirms the correlation between the increasing importance of South Asia in Japan’s foreign policy strategy and the distribution of Japanese ODA in the region, and finds that Japan’s aid policy to India is dominated by mercantilism, to Bangladesh and Pakistan by humanism, and the gaiatsu approach is losing its relevance.