Japan and India held their first joint air drills in an area outside Tokyo as both nations step up their military exercises with other countries amid worries about China’s assertiveness.
About four F-2 and four F-15 jets were expected to take part in the drills that started yesterday and would run until Thursday next week at an airbase in Ibaraki Prefecture, northeast of Tokyo, the Japanese Ministry of Defense said.
While the two have trained together before in other nations, it is the first one-on-one training of its sort, the ministry said.
Photo: AFP
The exercise started as Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida completed a trip this month to Italy, the UK, Canada and the US to bolster his nation’s alliances to help deter China.
Japan is also a member of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue that includes India, Australia and the US, and is seen as a check on Beijing’s assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific region.
The joint drills with India grew out of a security meeting in New Delhi in November 2019, but had been put on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Kyodo News reported.
Kyodo said that India’s is the fifth military Japan has hosted in this type of bilateral exercise after those of the US, Australia, the UK and Germany, citing the ministry.
India is fielding Russian-made Su-30MKI fighters and US-made C-17 Globemaster heavy lift transport aircraft in the maiden exercise, air force spokesman Wing Commander Ashish Moghe said.
The two sides would carry out complex air combat drills and exchange best practices, he said.
Tensions between India and China have been simmering along the border between the two nations since a June 2020 clash — the worst in more than 40 years.
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