Against the backdrop of China’s aggressive posturing on territorial and maritime disputes, India and Japan on Wednesday reiterated their commitment towards a strong defence partnership and agreed to find opportunities to further enhance bilateral cooperation.
The seventh India-Japan Defence Policy Dialogue, co-chaired by Defence Secretary Giridhar Aramane and Vice Minister of Defense for International Affairs Oka Masami, was held in New Delhi on Wednesday.
A wide range of issues, including Service-level exercises and engagements, regional security issues and cooperation in defence equipment and technology, were discussed during the meeting. The Japanese minister also presented policy updates from their recently released National Security Strategy and National Defense Strategy.
The two countries appreciated the growing cooperation between the Services through Staff talks and exercises.
They welcomed the conduct of the inaugural fighter exercise ‘Veer Guardian’ between the Indian Air Force and the Japanese Air Self Defence Force in January this year in Japan.
The defence secretary emphasised that both countries should aim to deepen collaboration between the respective defence industries. He also invited Japanese defence industries to look at investment opportunities in India under the ‘Make in India’ initiative. Both sides agreed to diversify cooperation in new and emerging domains like defence space and cyber.
The Defence Policy Dialogue is an institutionalised mechanism between India and Japan to discuss bilateral defence cooperation.