India and Japan on Thursday agreed to deepen their defense cooperation and pledged commitment to their shared vision of Indo-Pacific region.
The Indian Defense Ministry said in a statement that Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh met Japanese Vice Minister of Defense for International Affairs Oka Masami in New Delhi.
During the meeting, the latter briefed about the discussions held during the 7th Defence Policy Dialogue on April 5 which was co-chaired by Oka Masami and Indian Defence Secretary Giridhar Aramane.
“The visiting dignitary reiterated Japan’s keenness to further enhance bilateral defence cooperation, including collaboration in defence equipment and technology,” the statement said.
The Indian defense minister told the Japanese minister that India shares Japan’s vision for a free, open, secure and rules-based Indo-Pacific. He also underlined the importance of expanding the scope of their bilateral cooperation.
The 7th India-Japan Defence Policy Dialogue discussed wide range of issues, including regional security issues and cooperation in defence equipment and technology in addition to service-level exercises and engagements.
The Japanese minister briefed Indian side about policy updates according to the National Security Strategy and National Defense Strategy released recently.
The Indian official stressed that both the countries should aim to enhance collaboration between the respective defence industries and invited Japanese defence industries to look at investment opportunities in India.
Both sides also agreed to diversify cooperation in defence space and cyber security.
They reiterated commitment towards a strong defence partnership and agreed to find opportunities to deepen the bilateral cooperation to new avenues.
The next Defence Policy Dialogue which is an institutionalized mechanism to discuss bilateral defence cooperation between the two will be held at mutually convenient dates.
Source: Kuwait News Agency