Japan to host next India-Japan 2+2 Ministerial meeting

Terming the India-Japan 2+2 Ministerial meeting an opportunity to review security cooperation between the two nations, India on Thursday said that Japan has offered to host the next meeting.

“Japan has offered to hold the next India-Japan 2+2 meeting. However, it has not happened yet due to Covid19 and other factors,” the Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said at a presser here adding that the details of the meeting will be shared in the public domain once finalized. Bagchi noted that India-Japan 2+2 Ministerial meeting is an important meeting which started in November 2019, and was held in India.

“This is a mechanism that helps us to coordinate both on the defenses and on the foreign ministry side. This is Japan’s turn to host it which gives us an opportunity to review the status of our defense and security cooperation and ways to further strengthen this cooperation of ours and the special strategic and global partnership. We will share the details once finalized.”

Moreover, while speaking about the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Japan to attend the state funeral of former Japanese PM Shinzo Abe which is to be held on September 27, the MEA Spokesperson said that Japan has informed India of the state funeral, however, the announcement on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Japan will be made at the right time and as per protocols.

India-Japan 2+2 will be the second such meeting between the two countries as the inaugural meeting of the India-Japan Foreign and Defence Ministerial Dialogue (2+2) was held on November 30, 2019, in New Delhi.

Defence Minister of India, Rajnath Singh and External Affairs Minister of India, S. Jaishankar, met then Foreign Affairs Minister of Japan, MOTEGI Toshimitsu, and then Minister of Defense of Japan, KONO Taro, on November 30, 2019, in New Delhi for the first India-Japan 2+2 Foreign and Defence Ministerial Meeting.

The Ministers had affirmed that this dialogue will further enhance the strategic depth of bilateral security and defense cooperation. Acknowledging emerging security challenges, the Ministers reiterated their commitment to advancing bilateral security cooperation based on the 2008 Joint Declaration on Security Cooperation and the 2009 Action Plan to advance Security Cooperation.

Recalling that the two sides had a shared vision of a free, open, inclusive and rules-based Indo-Pacific region in which the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity are ensured, and all countries enjoy freedom of navigation and overflight, the Ministers emphasized that further strengthening of bilateral cooperation was in mutual interest of both countries and would also help in furthering the cause of the peace, security and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region.

The Ministers welcomed the progress made in deepening bilateral defence cooperation last year. The Ministers noted with satisfaction that since last year India and Japan have initiated bilateral exercises between all three components of their defence forces.

They shared the view to make continuous efforts for holding the bilateral exercises between the defence forces regularly and further expanding the same. In this regard, the Ministers welcomed the recently conducted second “Dharma Guardian-2019” and the second “SHINYUU Maitri-2019”. The Ministers also concurred to proceed with coordination for the first India-Japan joint fighter aircraft exercise in Japan.

Acknowledging the importance of ensuring maritime safety in achieving a free, open, inclusive and rules-based Indo-Pacific, the Ministers expressed their intention to further promote cooperation in the field of capacity building in maritime security and Maritime Domain Awareness including through cooperation with other countries.

The Ministers appreciated the existing exchange programs between the defence educational and research institutions of the two countries and expressed their desire to continue and expand the exchange programmes.

Recalling the Japan-India-US Summit Meetings in November 2018 and June 2019, the Ministers acknowledged the trilateral cooperation with the US. The Ministers expressed their satisfaction at trilateral cooperation represented by the “MALABAR 2019” held from September-October 2019 off the coast of Japan, the mine-countermeasures exercise (MINEX) held in Japan in July 2019 and “Cope India 2018” in which Japan participated as an observer in December 2018.

The Ministers had a frank and fruitful exchange of views on the regional issues of mutual interests particularly on the security situation in the Indo-Pacific.

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