(Press Release: Provisional Translation)
August 21, 2024
Ministry of Defense Japan
On August 20, commencing at 4:40 p.m. (local time), for approximately 60 minutes, Minister Kihara held a Defense Ministerial Meeting with Minister Singh in New Delhi.
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At the beginning, Minister Kihara welcomed the continuous active communication between two countries and the progress in exchange among each component since the previous “2+2” and Defense Ministerial Meeting two years ago.
- The ministers appreciated that bilateral exercises in all components have been conducted beginning from the high-level exchange between Chief of Staff, Joint Staff Office and Chief of Defence Staff of the Indian Armed Forces, and concurred to make the bilateral exercises more complex and sophisticated, and continue conducting them.
- The ministers welcomed the implementation of Tarang Shakti, the first multilateral fighter exercise hosted by the Indian Air Force from next week (August 29), including the coordination of the first air visit by Japanese fighters is progressing.
- The ministers appreciated the progress of the discussion among the defense authorities and corporations, targeting the transfer of Unified Complex Radio Antenna (UNICORN), and concurred to make it as a trigger to further deepen defense equipment and technology cooperation.
- The ministers welcomed the Japan Maritime Self Defense Force (JMSDF) and Indian Naval Force are exploring cooperation in the area of ship maintenance at India, which helps improve interoperability and others between JMSDF and Indian Navy, and which may lead to improvement in flexible operation of JMSDF in Indian Ocean region.
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The ministers concurred that cooperation among every country is necessary for stable Indo-Pacific region, and affirmed the importance of defense cooperation and exchanges not only between Japan-India but also through multilateral frameworks such as Japan-India-U.S.-Australia.
- The ministers concurred to continue to closely work together to realize Free and Open Indo-Pacific.