Text Fwd: India, Japan Strengthen Strategic Relations

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Defense News
December 29, 2009
India, Japan Strengthen Strategic Relations
By Vivek Raghuvanshi

-Indo-Japanese strategic ties are part of an effort to counter the growing
influence of China in the area, said Mahindra Singh, retired Indian Army major
general and defense analyst based here. The heavy dependence of Japan and India on oil imports from the Persian Gulf is another major driver behind the growing Indo-Japanese relationship, Singh said.

NEW DELHI: India and Japan will upgrade their defense and strategic ties through
a Defence Action Plan (DAP) that will be presented to the prime ministers of
both countries when Yukio Hatoyama meets his Indian counterpart, Manmohan Singh, here Dec. 30, said a senior Indian Foreign Ministry official. The Japanese prime
minister is visiting Dec. 27-30.

The DAP will set up a framework to increase defense and strategic cooperation.
One principal area will be maritime cooperation, the official added. Maritime
security dialogue between defense authorities of India and Japan already has
been taking place for "some time," said an official of the Indian Defence
Ministry.

Indo-Japanese strategic ties are part of an effort to counter the growing
influence of China in the area, said Mahindra Singh, retired Indian Army major
general and defense analyst based here. The heavy dependence of Japan and India
on oil imports from the Persian Gulf is another major driver behind the growing
Indo-Japanese relationship, Singh said.

In November, Indian Defence Minister A. K. Antony accompanied a high-level
delegation to Tokyo that included Defence Secretary Pradeep Kumar; V.K.
Saraswat, scientific adviser to the defense minister; and Vice Adm. D.K. Dewan,
the vice chief of the Naval Staff.
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