China on mind, India and Japan deepen economic security partnership

They also proposed annual dialogue of their national security advisers to take stock of security situation facing India and Japan, and have increased consultation between their military leaderships

The governments of India and Japan on Friday said they supported private sector-led efforts that safeguarded the economic security of both countries.

 

They also proposed an annual dialogue of their national security advisers to take stock of the security situation facing India and Japan, and have increased consultation between their military leaderships.

 

The two countries welcomed the launch of the India-Japan Private-Sector Dialogue on Economic Security between Keidanren (Japan Business Federation) and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

 

With New Delhi and Tokyo wary of an increasingly assertive Beijing, the two countries signed an agreement to deepen their economic-security partnership. The pact identified such a partnership as “a key pillar” of India-Japan bilateral cooperation “emanating from a growing convergence in our strategic outlook and economic imperatives”.

 

The two countries agreed to advance bilateral cooperation in building resilient supply chains and secure critical infrastructure. India and Japan said that key sectors would receive heightened priority for strategic collaboration — semiconductors, critical minerals, pharmaceuticals, clean energy, and information and communication technology

 

On semiconductors, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology of India (Meity), on the Indian side, and the Ministry of Economy Trade and Industry of Japan (METI), on the Japanese half, had signed an agreement in July 2023, strengthening cooperation on enhancing semiconductor supplies. They have held regular meetings since then.

 

India and Japan issued a joint declaration on security cooperation “to reflect the new stage of their partnership” and agreed that they should strive to contribute to each other’s defence capabilities and readiness by conducting bilateral exercises between their forces and explore a new meeting framework on a comprehensive dialogue between joint staffs.

 

It has also envisaged collaboration between special operations units, utilising each other’s facilities for repair and maintenance of defence platforms and promoting naval and coast guard cooperation for a peaceful maritime environment in the Indo-Pacific region.

 

India and Japan agreed to facilitate technological and industrial collaboration between their government entities and private-sector stakeholders for resilience in sectors critical to national security, with a focus on startups and micro, small, and medium enterprises towards both current and future security needs.

 

The two have agreed to a reinvigorated India-Japan Defence Industry Forum to identify possibilities for business collaboration, and a track 1.5 dialogue of think tanks.

 

The two leaders welcomed the evolution of the four-nation Quad into a vital and enduring regional grouping, and looked forward to its next Leaders’ summit, to be hosted by India later this year.

 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Japanese equivalent, Shigeru Ishiba, expressed serious concern over the situation in the East and the South China Seas.

 

“They reiterated their strong opposition to any unilateral actions that endanger the safety as well as freedom of navigation and overflight, and attempt to change the status quo by force or coercion,” the joint statement said.

 

Under the new framework for defence cooperation, India and Japan decided to contribute to each other’s defence capabilities by promoting interoperability and synergy between their defence forces.

 

The framework listed enhancing the use of the India-Japan agreement on a reciprocal provision of supplies and services as part of broader efforts to expand the strategic cooperation.

 

It also provides for measures to advance shared maritime security goals and promote naval and coast guard cooperation for a peaceful maritime environment in the Indo-Pacific region.

 

India and Japan also agreed to expand the use of their respective space systems for national security, satellite-based navigation, earth observation and other mutually decided areas in the space sector.