TOKYO (AP) — Japan and India agreed Thursday to expand military cooperation by conducting more joint training and the combined advancement of defense devices, such as drones, amid emerging tensions with China and Russia in the region.
Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi said there was a “growing need” for India and Japan to step up security cooperation. He pointed to Russia’s war against Ukraine, China’s assertive actions, which added rising tensions around Taiwan, and North Korea’s missiles and nuclear threats.
Hayashi and Japanese Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada held talks Thursday with their Indian counterparts Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and Rajnat Singh in Tokyo.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida pledged to particularly develop the capability of Japan’s military, in all likelihood adding pre-emptive strikes, which critics said would violate the country’s war era. His administration is lately reviewing the country’s national security strategy and defense guidelines. and is trying to nearly double military spending to about 2% of GDP.
Japan is also looking to expand transfers of military apparatus to its weak defense industry.
The four ministers said in a statement that Japan and India are seeking the joint progression of unmanned floor vehicle generation and will discuss concrete spaces for long-term cooperation in defense apparatus and technologies. Japan’s previous plan to sell landing jets at sea to India has been delayed, in component through costs, Japanese defense officials said.
“Improving the defense apparatus and technological cooperation between India and Japan is obviously one of our most sensible priority areas,” Singh told a joint news conference.
India and Japan also reaffirmed their commitment to a “free and open Indo-Pacific vision” that Japan promotes with the US. The U. S. as a way to counter China’s assertiveness in the region.
Hamada, who held defense talks with Singh last Thursday, said bilateral and multinational training and defense cooperation have expanded in recent years and will be taken to “new heights. “
Thursday’s talks came on the heels of a first training of the Russian multinational army held Sept. 1-7 in the Far East, involving China and India.
Tokyo protested to Moscow over its opposition to the exercise, which included training on Russian-controlled islands, which Japan also claims.
Foreign Ministry officials said Japan had warned India that it opposed training on the disputed islands and that Indian troops had only participated in other areas.
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AP journalists Haruka Nuga and Chisato Tanaka contributed to this report.