Until today this question has bothered me with not much-supporting information.

Japan and India are two very different countries and according to my understanding of history, they were approached differently by Western powers. Japan modernised with the help of Western powers, but long before then, India was being slowly swallowed up by the success of the East India company. And this has made me wonder. Could India have also been groomed into a world power if Western nations came to India as they did with Japan? or could the reverse outcome have easily happened and the coasts of Japan home western trading posts for corporations like the EIC?

I also understand that the main motivation behind Japan to modernise was because the nation saw what was already happening in China, but what could they have done to combat the West without the West's support? It almost sounds like a lose-lose situation.

Thank you for reading this!