For the first time, India and Japan on Saturday forged Defence ties with both the countries agreeing to co-operate in the joint development and production of weapon systems, including submarines and amphibious aircraft.
Japan also agreed to regularly take part in the Malabar series of Naval exercises held every two years. So far, these exercises were bilateral, involving Indian and US Navy, with Japan taking part off and on like it did this year in October.
These key pacts were signed during the summit-level talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe here on Saturday. Terming these agreements as “decisive steps in our security cooperation”, Modi said they will deepen the Defence relations and promote Defence manufacturing in India. “This builds on our decision to expand staff talks to all three wings of the Armed Forces and make Japan a partner in Malabar Naval Exercises,” he added.
The two leaders also issued a joint statement on ‘India and Japan Vision 2025: Special Strategic and Global Partnership Working Together for Peace and Prosperity of the Indo-Pacific Region and the World.’
The joint statement said the two Prime Ministers view that imperatives of a stronger bilateral strategic partnership require deep and broad-based cooperation and concrete actions in Defence, security. It said the Defence agreements signed further strengthen the foundation of “deep strategic ties.”
Taking note of the agreements, the two leaders reaffirmed their commitment to continue discussions to deepen the bilateral Defence relationship — including two-way collaboration and technology cooperation, co-development and co-production. “The two Prime Ministers expressed their intention to explore potential future projects on Defence equipment and technology cooperation such as US-2 amphibian aircraft,” the statement said.
Japan had offered its Shinmayawa US-2 amphibious aircraft to India nearly three years back to meet the Navy’s requirement for at least 12 such planes which can land at sea surface as well on land. It was for the first time since World War-II that Japan was willing to sell Defence equipment to another country.
The two countries have held preliminary talks about the proposed deal and New Delhi wants Tokyo to build these planes as part of ‘Make in India’ initiative to boost the Indian industry. The summit talks between the two Prime Ministers will now give momentum to the deal, officials said.
Similarly, India has invited Japan to take part in its Rs 50,000-crore plan to build six conventional submarines as part of ‘Make in India’ drive. Japan manufactures Soryu class of submarines and India wants it to take part in Project-75 I for building six submarines in Indian yards. Other countries -- including France, Germany and Russia -- are also keen to vie for this lucrative contract.
Meanwhile, the two PMs also reaffirmed their desire to further develop dialogue and exchanges between the two countries in the security and Defence fields, including through the full utilisation of ‘2+2 Dialogue’, Defence Policy Dialogue, Military-to-Military Talks and Coast Guard to Coast Guard cooperation. The leaders also appreciated the decision to begin Air Force-to-Air Force Staff Talks.
On joint Defence production, Modi and Abe welcomed the conclusion of the Agreement concerning the Transfer of the Defence Equipment and Technology and the Agreement concerning Security Measures for the Protection of Classified Military Information, which further strengthens the foundation of deep strategic ties.