India, Japan Strengthen Defence Cooperation On Maritime Security

TOKYO: India and Japan agreed to strengthen bilateral cooperation on maritime security, including expansion of joint drills and institution of a high-level defence dialogue.

Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar met their Japanese counterparts Hamada Yasukazu and Hayashi Yoshimasa during the second India-Japan 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue held in Tokyo on September 8.

They held detailed discussions on all critical challenges to a rules-based global order which increasingly binds the two countries, reinforcing their special strategic and global partnership. India and Japan are members of several influential global platforms. India will be chairing the G20 next year, overlapping with Japan's chairship of the G-7. Their common commitment to reformed multilateralism is reflected in their regular G-4 consultations, the next session of which is to be held later this month.

Citing their common interests as active providers of development assistance, especially in South East Asia, South Asia, and Africa, Jaishankar observed that the scope of the special strategic partnership between India and Japan exceeds well beyond the immediate region.

Japan was the second country, after the US, to establish two-plus-two talks with India. The SDF and the Indian military, which ran their first joint naval exercise in 2012, have since participated in several joint drills and exercises with other countries. Japan and India inked an acquisition and cross-servicing agreement in 2020.

The 2+2 ministerial meet assumes significance against the background of heightened tensions across the Taiwan Strait. In August, China reportedly lobbed five ballistic missiles in Japan's exclusive economic zone, during a military exercise, China's largest ever in the Taiwan Strait.

Japan's Defence Minister Nobuo Kishi called it "a serious problem that affects our national security and the safety of our citizens". The exercise came two days after US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan and hours after China cancelled a scheduled foreign minister-level meeting with Japan expressing displeasure with a G-7 statement urging China to resolve Taiwan tensions peacefully.

Japan is currently witnessing a massive domestic debate that will hopefully result in a revision of Tokyo's national security strategy, national defence strategy, and medium-term plans to build new military capabilities. (IANS)

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