Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], August 20 (ANI): Japanese Defence Minister Shinjiro Koizumi arrived in Mumbai on Wednesday for his maiden official go to to India, kicking off a two-day itinerary centered on deepening defence ties and advancing maritime safety cooperation between the 2 nations.
Upon his arrival, Koizumi inspected a Guard of Honour on the Western Naval Command in Mumbai and laid a wreath on the Gaurav Stambh on the Naval Dockyard. As a part of his operational briefings, the Japanese Defence Minister visited the indigenous stealth destroyer INS Chennai and held strategic discussions with Indian Navy Chief Admiral Krishna Swaminathan and Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Western Naval Command, Vice Admiral Sanjay Mahajan Vatsayan.
According to the Ministry of Defence, the Japanese delegation was comprehensively briefed on the operational capabilities, roles and regional obligations of the Indian Navy.
Highlighting the engagement on social media, Japanese Ambassador to India Keiichi Ono welcomed the visiting minister in a put up on X, noting: ‘Welcome to India, Minister Koizumi @shinjirokoiz , Defense Minister of Japan! The 2-day program started yesterday with a go to to the Western Naval Command in Mumbai. Had fruitful discussions on advancing maritime cooperation.’
Building on these opening engagements in Mumbai, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will maintain a bilateral assembly with Koizumi in New Delhi on Thursday to additional bolster bilateral defence relations and promote peace throughout the Indo-Pacific area.
‘The assembly is predicted to additional strengthen bilateral defence relations, improve strategic belief and cooperation, promote stability & safety within the Indo-Pacific area and determine new areas of collaboration,’ the Defence Ministry mentioned.
The Ministry additional said that the 2 leaders will trade views on deeper maritime safety cooperation and nearer defence gear and expertise collaboration beneath the ‘Make-in-India’ framework, following Japan’s revision of its Three Principles on Transfer of Defence Equipment and Technology.
‘The assembly supplies a possibility to construct a roadmap for additional advancing bilateral defence and safety cooperation,’ the Ministry added, emphasising that India and Japan share a standard imaginative and prescient of constructing a free, open, resilient and affluent Indo-Pacific area.
‘The two-day go to of the Japanese Defence Minister underscores the rising momentum in bilateral defence cooperation and displays the dedication of either side to additional develop the partnership,’ it famous.
This high-level safety dialogue comes weeks after Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi visited India in July for the sixteenth Annual Summit with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. During that summit, either side agreed to deepen defence and safety cooperation, signing over USD 10 billion in agreements geared toward boosting investments in AI, defence and clear power, alongside concentrating on 10 trillion yen in Japanese investments over the following decade. (ANI)