India and Japan yesterday said that they would deepen defense cooperation, with New Delhi inviting investment by Japanese industries and both countries planning a joint military drill involving their air force fighters.
Indian Minister of Defense Rajnath Singh held talks in Tokyo with Japanese Minister of Defense Yasukazu Hamada ahead of “two-plus-two” talks between defense and foreign ministers from the two countries.
“He invited Japanese industries to invest in India’s defense corridors,” the Indian Ministry of Defense said in a statement, referring to Singh.
Photo: AFP
“The two ministers agreed that the early conduct of the inaugural fighter exercise will pave the way for much greater cooperation and interoperability between the air forces of the two countries,” it said.
India, like Japan, is bolstering its military to tackle what it sees as increased security threats, including from China.
In Japan, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has promised a “substantial” defense spending increase.
His ruling Liberal Democratic Party wants to double Japan’s military budget to 2 percent of GDP over the next five years amid worry Russia’s invasion of Ukraine could embolden China to act against Taiwan.
New Delhi, which last week commissioned its first home-built aircraft carrier, is expanding its security ties with Tokyo as both Asian nations grow wary of China’s growing military might in the region.
At the outset of the two-plus-two meeting, Japanese Minister of Foreign Affairs Yoshimasa Hayashi underscored the growing importance of the ties between the two countries as the international community faces various challenges.
“If you take a look at the international community, unilateral attempts to change the status quo with force are continuing in the East and South China seas, let alone Russia’s invasion of Ukraine,” Hayashi said.
China claims almost all the energy-rich waters of the South China Sea, where it has established military outposts on artificial islands. In the East China Sea, Beijing claims a group of uninhabited Japanese-administered islets, which Taiwan also claims.
Japan and India, along with Australia and the US, are members of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue group of nations and hold annual naval exercises across the Indo-Pacific region to demonstrate interoperability.
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