Japan and India have agreed to set up a new defense cooperation consultation body, the two countries’ defense chiefs have said, as Tokyo and New Delhi look to counter China’s growing military presence in the Indo-Pacific region.
Underscoring the importance of bilateral security ties, Defense Minister Gen Nakatani told his Indian counterpart, Rajnath Singh, during talks in New Delhi on Monday that strengthening defense coordination would “generate significant synergies” that open new doors for the partners and the region as a whole.
“Amid the rapidly changing and increasingly uncertain regional and international circumstances surrounding Japan and India, it is increasingly important and necessary for the two — which share the vision of a peaceful and prosperous Indo-Pacific region based on the rule of law — to further strengthen cooperation and coordination in the defense field,” the Defense Ministry quoted Nakatani as saying.
