India, Japan to deepen defence ties

India and Japan today decided to deepen their defence cooperation and enhance strategic maritime ties.
The two sides reviewed the entire gamut of bilateral defence ties as top officials met here for the 4th Defence Policy Dialogue.
"All issues of mutual concern and interest were discussed today," defence sources said.
The meeting was chaired by Defence Secretary R K Mathur and Japanese Vice Minister of Defence for International Affairs Hideshi Tokuchi.
The meeting comes ahead of the annual India-China Defence Dialogue to be held in Beijing this week.
A high-power Indian military delegation headed by the Defence Secretary will arrive in Beijing tomorrow to take part in the seventh Annual Defence Dialogue aimed at improving military ties besides exchanging views on number of regional and global security issues of mutual concern.

During the recent visit of Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar to Tokyo, Japan had sought enhanced cooperation with India in defence and security sector including in the field of maritime security, amid increasing Chinese assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific region.
Parrikar had said that Japan is a privileged partner in the 'Make In India' initiative including the defence technology sector.