Kicking off their inaugural trilateral dialogue at the ministerial level, India, the United States and Japan have agreed to work together to maintain maritime security through greater collaboration in the light of the growing convergence of their interests in the Indo-Pacific region.
The agreement was reached at a meeting that US Secretary of State John Kerry hosted with External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida in New York on the sidelines of the ongoing 70th UN General Assembly session.
“Representing a quarter of the world’s population and economic production power, the three countries highlighted their shared support for peace, democracy, prosperity, and a rules-based international order,” said a joint statement issued after the meeting.
Speaking of their respective interests in the Indo-Pacific region, the three Ministers underscored the importance of international law and peaceful settlement of disputes, freedom of navigation and overflight, and unimpeded lawful commerce, including in the South China Sea.
They reiterated their support for ASEAN centrality in the multilateral political and security architecture in the Asia-Pacific region and emphasised the importance of East Asia Summit as the premier leaders-level forum to address key political and security issues of the region.
Swaraj, in her remarks, noted that at a fundamental level, the India-US-Japan engagement is defined by “cooperating approaches and endeavours”. The three countries, she said, intend to realise their mutual objectives by growing their exchanges into complete trilateral engagement, including regional connectivity and humanitarian assistance in disaster situation.
Stating that the Asia Pacific and the Indian Ocean region is strategic to India’s security and economic interests, Swaraj explained that the sea lanes of communication in the region are the lifeline of India’s trade and commercial externalities, with a substantial part of its energy and goods trade passing through the Asia Pacific sea lanes.
India, as part of its Act East policy, has focused on building stronger linkages with centres of economic growth in the region and deepened political and security ties with them, Swaraj said and reiterated India’s strong interest in becoming a member of APEC at an early date.
At the meeting, the United States and India welcomed Japan’s participation in the 2015 MAlABAR exercise. Recognizing the three countries’ extensive disaster response capabilities, the meeting agreed to convene an experts-level group on humanitarian assistance and disaster relief to enhance ability to respond jointly to complex disasters.
The three Ministers expressed interest in exploring trilateral cooperation on women’s skill enhancement and economic empowerment to further social and economic development.
Kerry, in his remarks, said it was an important moment for the three countries to be able to underscore their interest in the Indo-Pacific region as part of India’s East Asia policy and Japan’s very active engagement with South and Southeast Asia.
Kishida said the trilateral engagement will further deepen the strategic partnership of the three countries and will also prove to be truly significant for the stability and prosperity of the whole Indo-Pacific region.