India, Japan agree to diversify defense cooperation in new, emerging domains
India and Japan on Wednesday agreed to diversify their defense cooperation in new and emerging domains like space and cyber as part of an aim to consolidate the overall strategic engagement.
The decision to further expand defense ties was taken at the seventh edition of India-Japan Defense Policy Dialogue that took place in Delhi.
In the talks, the Indian side invited Japanese defense industries to look at investment opportunities in India under the ‘Make in India’ initiative.
The defense dialogue took place over two weeks after Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida visited India during which he put the country as an “indispensable partner” of Japan to achieve the ambitious goal of peace, prosperity and stability in the Indo-Pacific region.
The dialogue was co-chaired by Defense Secretary Giridhar Aramane and Japan’s Vice Minister of Defense for International Affairs Oka Masami.
“A wide range of issues, including service-level exercises and engagements, regional security issues and cooperation in defense equipment and technology, were discussed during the meeting,” the defense ministry said.
It said the Japanese vice minister presented policy updates from their recently released National Security Strategy and National Defense Strategy.
The ministry said Aramane emphasized that both the countries should aim to deepen collaboration between the respective defense industries.
“He also invited Japanese defense 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 defense space and cyber,” it said in a statement.
Both sides also 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 Japanese Air Self Defense Force in January this year in Japan,” the ministry said.
The Defense Policy Dialogue is an institutional mechanism between India and Japan to discuss bilateral defense cooperation.
