Japan's defence, foreign ministers to visit India tomorrow for 2+2 dialogue

Japanese Foreign Affairs Minister Toshimitsu Motegi and Defence Minister Taro Kono will arrive in India on a day-long visit on Saturday morning to participate in the inaugural meeting of the India-Japan Foreign and Defence Ministerial Dialogue (2+2), slated to be held in New Delhi on the same day, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Friday.

During the visit, the ministers will call on Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday morning, and, later in the evening, will meet External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, the MEA said in a statement.

The two ministers will be leading a Japanese delegation to the inaugural meeting of the 2+2 dialogue. The Indian delegation will be led by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Jaishankar.

The meeting is being held in pursuance of the decision taken by PM Modi and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe during the 13th India-Japan Annual Summit held in Japan in October 2018 with an aim to institute a Foreign and Defence Ministerial Dialogue for further deepening bilateral security and defence cooperation.

The 2+2 meeting would provide an opportunity for the two sides to review the status of and exchange further views on strengthening defence and security cooperation between India and Japan so as to provide greater depth to the 'India-Japan Special Strategic and Global Partnership'.

The two sides will also exchange views on the situation in the Indo-Pacific region and their respective efforts under India's 'Act East Policy' and Japan's 'Free and Open Indo-Pacific Vision' for achieving their shared objective of peace, prosperity and progress to realise a better future for the people of the two countries and the region.