Japan will fail in making India a pawn against China, Chinese state-owned tabloid Global Times said in an editorial on Friday, claiming that the Indian government's foreign policy is multi-faceted and seeks to benefit from both countries.

Global Times, which is known for its nationalistic views, published the editorial on the eve of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's high-profile visit to Japan.

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The editorial claimed that the relationship between India and China is just too strong for Japan to exploit the differences between two countries.

"China and India have many problems between them, however, Sino-Indian relations are improving. National leaders frequently meet and are securing the right direction in bilateral ties," the editorial said.

It, however, shied away from taking an in-depth view on several contagious issues that has plagued the bilateral ties between both nations in recent months.  

The Chinese tabloid also took a swipe at the historic indo-Japan civil nuclear deal.

It editorial claims that Japan wants to use the civil nuclear deal as a ploy to convince the Modi government to intervene in the South China Sea dispute.

"Japan wants to use the disputes between China and India to court India to help contain China. Japan seeks to urge India to meddle in the South China Sea issue, even at the cost of changing its long-held position of reducing nuclear usage to offer special benefits of civil nuclear cooperation with India," the Global Times said.

The Chinese government has been keeping a close eye on Modi's visit to Japan, mainly due to New Delhi's aggressive posturing on the South China Sea issue. Several media reports ahead of Modi's visit indicated that New Delhi might== align with Tokyo to back the Permanent Court of Arbitration's ruling on the South China Sea dispute.

The Indian government so far has opted to intervene indirectly in the maritime dispute, mainly by offering military and financial assistance to claimant countries.     

TagsIndia, India and Japan, India and China, china, Narendra Modi's Visit to Japan