Enheartening extant ties, Rajnath Singh visits Japan attaching highest priority to bilateral relationship amidst

Tokyo, September 02: Viewing to strengthen military and defence ties with Japan, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh today arrived in Tokyo on the first leg of his five-day visit to East Asian countries and met Japanese PM Shinzo Abe.

 

"The meeting with the Prime Minister of Japan Mr Abe Shinzo was excellent. India attaches the highest priority to our bilateral relationship with Japan. I conveyed to him the Government of India’s commitment to further enhance the defence engagements between both the countries", he tweeted.

 

 

"Premier Mr Abe Shinzo’s regular interactions with India’s PM Modi have put the Special, Strategic and Global partnership between India-Japan on to an even higher pedestal. It has added a new strategic depth to our defence cooperation", he added. As part of his visit to Japan, the minister is set to co-chair the Annual Defence Ministerial Dialogue with his Japanese counterpart, a media statement said.

"The ministerial dialogue will aim to further strengthen India-Japan special strategic and global partnership and will include wide-ranging discussions to enhance the bilateral defence and security engagements between the two countries", Singh said.

The Defence Minister will be in Japan on September 2 and September 3 following which he will visit South Korea from September 5 and September 6 for a bilateral visit. India and Japan have developed strong ties over the last five years and there is also a personal bonding between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart.