Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Minister of Defense, Japan Kihara Minoru held a bilateral meeting, on the sidelines of India-Japan 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue, in New Delhi on August 20, 2024. During the meeting, the Defence Ministers reviewed the existing defence cooperation activities and discussed ways to enhance further cooperation.

The two Ministers reviewed the defence and security pillars of the India-Japan Special Strategic and Global Partnership. They reaffirmed their commitment towards strengthening our bilateral relations and contribution towards regional peace.

The Ministers welcomed the growing diversity and frequency of defence exercises and exchanges between the two countries and undertook to enhance the scope & complexity of these engagements. They committed to give fillip to further widen the scope in the field of Defence Equipment and Technological Cooperation along with enhanced cooperation in critical and emerging technology domains.

The two Ministers discussed further opportunities for industrial cooperation between India and Japan with a focus on Make-in-India and further enhancing the partnership in co-production and co-development.

The Defence Minister highlighted that India has set a vision of a ‘Viksit Bharat’ when the nation enters 2047 completing 100 years of independence. Building domestic defence capabilities is an integral part of this vision, he said, adding that partnering in Defence technologies and industry with Japan will be a key to achieve the goal. Both ministers committed to work together to formulate a vision for this partnership to realise the objectives for India at 2047.