Correspondent
Tokyo: At the Rising India Conclave in Tokyo on June 18, Dr. Tomohiko Taniguchi, Special Advisor and chief foreign-policy speechwriter to Japan’s former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe—revealed an interesting intellectual lineage that shaped one of the most consequential speeches in modern Indo-Japanese diplomacy. Taniguchi recalled personally choosing the title “Confluence of the Two Seas” for Abe’s landmark 2007 address to the Indian Parliament, inspired directly by the Mughal prince Dara Shikoh’s 1655 Persian work Majma-ul-Bahrain (The Confluence of the Two Seas).
This essay explores how a 17th-century Sufi-Vedantic treatise became the philosophical backbone of Abe’s Indo-Pacific vision, how the speech transformed India-Japan relations, and why India’s grief after Abe’s assassination in 2022 revealed the depth of that bond.
Dara Shikoh’s Majma-ul-Bahrain: The Original “Confluence”
Majma-ul-Bahrain, written by Dara Shikoh—the eldest son of Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan was completed in 1655. It is a short prose treatise dedicated to revealing the mystical and pluralistic affinities between Sufic (Islamic) and Vedantic (Hindu) speculation.
Dara Shikoh, later executed as a heretic by his brother Aurangzeb, was a renowned scholar of comparative religion. His work was among the earliest to explore the unity of Islam and Hinduism, arguing that both traditions sprang from the same divine truth. The title itself—“The Mingling of the Two Oceans”—symbolized the synthesis of two seemingly separate spiritual worlds.
Taniguchi recognized that this metaphor could be reimagined geopolitically: the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean as two seas converging into a single strategic space of freedom and prosperity.
On August 23, 2007, Shinzo Abe addressed the Indian Parliament in New Delhi, delivering his first major speech as Prime Minister. Titled “Confluence of the Two Seas,” it marked the first official statement on the Indo-Pacific concept in international diplomacy.
Abe declared:
“The Pacific and the Indian Oceans are now bringing about a dynamic coupling as seas of freedom and of prosperity.”
He questioned where Japan and India stood historically and geographically, then answered by citing Dara Shikoh’s Majma-ul-Bahrain:
“India is the place where the concept of a broader Asia has transcending geographical boundaries, with the merging of the Pacific and Indian Oceans becoming far more evident than ever.”
The speech was revolutionary. Before Abe, the term “Asia-Pacific” dominated strategic discourse—but it excluded India and the Indian Ocean zone. Abe recognized this limitation and conceived “Indo-Pacific” as a more fitting concept for the 21st century.
Taniguchi’s role was crucial at this critical juncture of history. As Abe’s principal speechwriter for 15 years, he crafted addresses to the parliaments of India, Australia, and the United States, as well as memorials at Yad Vashem, Pearl Harbor, and Darwin.
India’s Unprecedented Mourning: When Abe Was Assassinated
On July 8, 2022, Shinzo Abe was assassinated while delivering a campaign speech in Nara City, Japan. He was shot with an improvised weapon and pronounced dead hours later.
India’s response was historic. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who often called Abe his “dear friend,” announced one day of national mourning on July 9, 2022—the first high-profile foreign assassination for which India declared state mourning.
PM Modi tweeted:
“I am shocked and saddened beyond words at the tragic demise of one of my dearest friends, Shinzo Abe.”
In 2021, India had already honoured Abe with the Padma Vibhushan, its second-highest civilian award, recognizing his transformative role in India-Japan relations.
Taniguchi, now a Specially Appointed Professor at the University of Tsukuba and Special Adviser at the Fujitsu Future Studies Centre, remains a key voice in Indo-Japanese diplomacy. He has stressed that India and Japan must lead the Quad amid U.S. uncertainty, urging joint responsibility to sustain momentum.
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