Japan reschedules Japan-India joint fighter aircraft exercise; Soon to resume

New Delhi, May 14: The Defence Ministry of Japan announced that it is rescheduling a Japan-India joint fighter aircraft exercise due to the coronavirus pandemic which was scheduled to take place in Japan. However, India's Defence Ministry and Japan's counterpart have agreed to resume as soon as the situation gets better.

 

 

“In view of the significance of the exercise as it will be the first fighter aircraft training jointly held by Japan and India, the defence ministers of the two countries agreed to resume the coordination as soon as the COVID-19 situation gets resolved and embody the deepening of Japan-India defence cooperation in a tangible way,” a statement issued by Japan’s Ministry of Defence read.

 

Even in the last week, Japanese Defence Minister Taro Kono talked to Defence Minister of India Rajnath Singh over the phone.

 

The major fighter jet exercise was agreed to proceed with coordination in the last 2+2 Foreign and Defence Ministerial Meeting in November 2019. It was the fourth venture between India and Japan after similar endeavours were undertaken concerning the US, UK and Australia. Both of the nations are on the same page to emphasize on making the Indo-Pacific a Free and Open zone. They have vowed to maintain smooth defence relations and carry on strengthening bilateral defence cooperation.

 

Over the last years, the two countries have been expanding their defence co-operation, including joint drills while there has been an increase of China's presence in the Indian Ocean which can be a headache for India.

Meanwhile, the two sides were also involved in the advanced level talk on the acquisition and cross-servicing agreement, a logistic sharing pact that allows for the sharing of food, fuel, transportation, ammunition and equipment. Japan has also been increasing security cooperation with India as a countermeasure to China’s maritime expansion in the Indo-Pacific region.

On the other hand, in spite of the deadly pandemic, China has been carrying out several maritime activities in the South China Sea and the Indian Ocean in the past few weeks. Besides, , India and China were locked up in an intense face-off near the Naku La sector (ahead of Muguthang Valley) pass at a height of over 5,000 metres in North Sikkim on Saturday. 11 soldiers, including four Indians and seven Chinese, were injured on the Line of Actual Control.

Recently, China’s defence ministry announced the deployment of the Task Force of the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) in order to carry out anti-piracy patrols in the Indian Ocean Region. It is also trying to broaden its political influence among the island nations of the Indian Ocean with increasing the area in the Feydhoo Finolhu Island following the destruction of the reef.