Amid China's military muscle flexing, India and Japan resolve to expand defence cooperation

Tokyo, Aug 29 (PTI) With an eye on Beijing's increasing military muscle flexing in the East and South China Seas, India and Japan on Friday unveiled a comprehensive framework to boost their defence cooperation to respond to contemporary security challenges.

The new initiative was announced after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Shigeru Ishiba held summit talks that focused on significantly expanding the 'Special Strategic and Global Partnership' between the two countries.

Under the framework, the two sides also resolved to explore co-development and co-production of military equipment and technology for current and future security needs.

In their talks, Modi and Ishiba resolved to uphold the international order based on the rule of law and reaffirmed their steadfast commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific that is peaceful, prosperous and resilient, according to a joint statement.

The two leaders welcomed the evolution of the four-nation Quad into a vital and enduring regional grouping, and looked forward to its next Leaders’ summit to be hosted by India later this year.

Modi and Ishiba expressed serious concern over the situation in the East and the South China Seas.

"They reiterated their strong opposition to any unilateral actions that endanger the safety as well as freedom of navigation and overflight, and attempt to change the status quo by force or coercion," the joint statement said.

"They shared their serious concern over the militarisation of disputed features. They reaffirmed that maritime disputes must be resolved peacefully and in accordance with international law, in particular the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea," it said.

In his media statement, Modi said both sides have shared interests in the areas of defence and maritime security.

"We have jointly decided to further strengthen our cooperation in the fields of defence industry, and innovation," he said.

Under the new framework for defence cooperation, India and Japan decided to contribute to each other's defence capabilities by promoting interoperability and synergy between their defence forces.

To this end, the two sides decided to explore tri-service exercises and look at collaboration between their special operations units.

The framework also listed enhancing the use of the India-Japan agreement on reciprocal provision of supplies and services as part of broader efforts to expand the strategic cooperation.

It also provides for measures to advance shared maritime security goals and promote naval and coast guard cooperation for a peaceful maritime environment in the Indo-Pacific region.

The two sides also vowed to expand cooperation to combat terrorism, radical extremism and organised transnational crimes through intelligence and experience-sharing.

India and Japan also agreed to expand the use of their respective space systems for national security, satellite-based navigation, earth observation and other mutually decided areas in the space sector.

A joint statement on Modi-Ishiba talks said the two leaders acknowledged ongoing collaboration in the area of defence equipment and technology cooperation.

The two leaders directed the relevant authorities of the two sides to expedite efforts to materialise the "concrete outcomes" through the ongoing collaboration at the earliest, while also identifying specific areas for the future to effectively support both sides' operational approaches, it noted. PTI MPB ZH ZH