·
Bilateral
defence meeting: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and
Japanese Defence Minister Shinjiro
Koizumi held talks in New Delhi on August 20, 2026,
reaffirming the Japan-India Special Strategic and Global Partnership.
·
Free
and Open Indo-Pacific: Both sides reaffirmed
their commitment to a free
and open Indo-Pacific and opposed unilateral actions that
threaten freedom of navigation and overflight or seek to change the status quo
through force or coercion.
·
Maritime
Security MoA signed: India
and Japan signed a Memorandum
of Arrangement on Maritime Security Cooperation to strengthen
practical cooperation between the Indian
Navy and Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force.
·
Maritime
Domain Awareness: The agreement provides for enhanced information sharing on Maritime Domain
Awareness (MDA), along with cooperation in Search and Rescue (SAR)
and Humanitarian
Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR).
·
Protection
of Sea Lines of Communication:
Cooperation will include naval
ship visits, joint exercises, personnel and expert exchanges, port access,
maintenance and repair support.
·
Joint
shipbuilding opportunities: Both countries will
explore joint development
in naval shipbuilding and design, combining Japan’s
technological expertise with India’s production capabilities under the Make in India framework.
·
Ship
repair cooperation: India and Japan agreed to advance reciprocal access to ship repair
facilities and work towards concluding a ship repair
arrangement.
·
Mine
countermeasures: The two sides agreed to maximise
synergies to strengthen mine
countermeasures capabilities.
·
Expanded
military exercises: India and Japan welcomed progress in Dharma Guardian (Army)
and JAIMEX
(Maritime) exercises.
·
Veer
Guardian 26: The upcoming Japan-India Air Force exercise
will see Japanese fighter aircraft visit India and participate for the first time, marking a
significant expansion of air-force cooperation.
·
Advanced
joint exercises: Both sides will increase exercise
complexity, integrate unmanned
systems and explore conducting exercises at short notice.
·
Special
Forces cooperation: India and Japan will promote exchanges
between their Special
Operations Forces and explore cooperation with India’s
integrated theatre commands after their establishment.
·
Defence
equipment and technology: India welcomed Japan’s
revised framework for defence equipment and technology transfers and sought
deeper defence and
technology cooperation.
·
UNICORN
project: The shipborne UNICORN integrated communications
antenna system was identified as the first defence equipment
transfer project between the two countries and a symbol of their expanding
technology partnership.
·
Defence
R&D: DRDO
and Japan’s ATLA will deepen cooperation in advanced defence
technologies, while both sides will also establish a Defence Industry Forum.
·
Third-country
cooperation: Following the first Japan-India-Indonesia trilateral naval
PASSEX in February 2026, India and Japan agreed to expand
cooperation with other Indo-Pacific partners.
·
Indo-Pacific
Logistics Network: Both sides will strengthen the IPLN to help partner
countries transport personnel and supplies during natural disasters. Its second
tabletop exercise is scheduled for September
2026 in Japan.
·
Japan-India
2+2 dialogue: Both sides agreed to accelerate
preparations for the Fourth
Japan-India Foreign and Defence Ministerial Meeting (“2+2”), to
be held in Tokyo in 2026.
·
New
Working Group: A Director-General/Joint
Secretary-level Working Group will coordinate cooperation
across operations, intelligence, equipment, technology and defence industry.
·
Overall
significance: The meeting moves India-Japan defence
cooperation beyond exercises toward maritime
security, defence industrial collaboration, technology transfer, shipbuilding,
logistics, intelligence and joint development, strengthening
both countries’ role in Indo-Pacific security.
[ABS News Service/21.08.2026]
India-Japan Joint Press
Statement
Raksha
Mantri Rajnath Singh and Japanese Defence Minister Mr. Shinjiro Koizumi held a
bilateral meeting in New Delhi on 20 August 2026. The joint press statement is
as follows:
“On
20 August 2026, Mr. Shinjiro Koizumi, Minister of Defense
of Japan, and Rajnath Singh, Minister of Defence of the Republic of India, held
a Japan-India Defence Ministers’ Meeting in New Delhi.
The
two Ministers welcomed the steady strengthening of defence cooperation,
including cooperation among the respective Ministries and the Services of the
two countries that share strategic perspectives, under the “Japan-India Special
Strategic and Global Partnership”, which constitutes one of the pillars for
peace, stability and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific.
Recalling
the Japan-India Joint Statement issued by the leaders of the two countries in
July 2026, the two Ministers affirmed their commitment, under their leadership,
to further deepen defence cooperation to realize a free and open Indo-Pacific.
The
two Ministers concurred on the importance of sharing assessments of the
regional and international security environment between the two countries at a
time of heightened global tensions. They expressed their strong opposition to
any unilateral actions that impede freedom and safety of navigation and
overflight, as well as to any attempts to change the status-quo by force or
coercion.
The
two Ministers concurred on deepening operational cooperation in the field of
maritime security in a practical and effective manner. They accordingly
affirmed their commitment to strengthening Maritime Security Cooperation and
signed the Memorandum of Arrangement on Maritime Security Cooperation between
the Ministry of Defense of Japan and Ministry of
Defence of India.
The
Memorandum provides a framework for further advancing cooperation between the
two countries in the field of maritime security. Specifically, it includes the
strengthening of cooperation between the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force and the Indian Navy, including information
sharing in the field of Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA), as well as enhanced
cooperation in areas such as Search and Rescue (SAR) and Humanitarian
Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR).
The
two Ministers affirmed that they would strengthen coordination between both
sides for the protection of Sea Lines of Communications through mutual visits
by naval ships and units, joint exercises, personnel and Subject Matter Expert
(SME) exchanges and logistical support including use of ports, maintenance and
repair facilities. Such cooperation is vital not only to Japan and India, but
also to the region and the international community.
The
two Ministers concurred on moving swiftly to realize concrete maritime security
cooperation that serves the strategic and operational needs. They further
shared the view that both sides should maximize synergies to enhance mine
countermeasures capabilities and explore the possibility of joint development
in naval shipbuilding and design by leveraging Japan’s technological expertise
and India’s production capabilities in accordance with their respective
relevant policies. They further shared the view that both sides should leverage
each other’s strengths in the field of defense
shipbuilding and related areas, and deepen discussions on Japan’s use of
India’s production capabilities under the framework of “Make in India”. The Two
Ministers also concurred on progressing reciprocal provision of ship repair
facilities including the conclusion of ship repair arrangement in near future.
The
two Ministers welcomed the steady expansion and deepening of bilateral
exercises conducted by Japan and India, including the Japan-India Army exercise
‘Dharma Guardian’ and the Japan-India Maritime Exercise “JAIMEX”. They
particularly welcomed the steady progress in coordination for the Japan-India
Air Force exercise “Veer Guardian 26”, scheduled to be held this year, under
which Japan Air Self-Defence Force fighter aircraft will, for the first time,
visit India and participate in the exercise. The two Ministers concurred on
further deepening cooperation in bilateral exercises through enhanced
complexities, integration of unmanned systems and pursuing joint exercises at
short notice, whenever the opportunities arise.
With
a view to further advancing cooperation among the Services of the two
countries, the two Ministers concurred on promoting exchanges between their
respective Special Operations Forces and pursuing cooperation with India’s
integrated theatre commands following their establishment.
Defence
Minister Rajnath Singh welcomed Japan’s recent review of its framework for the
transfer of defence equipment and technology, and expressed his expectation
that Japan would further contribute to peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific
region and the wider world. He particularly expressed his expectations for the
further deepening of the defence and technology partnership between the two
countries.
The
two Ministers shared the view that the project concerning the shipborne UNICORN
integrated communications antenna system, as the first defence equipment
transfer project between the two countries, represents a symbol of the
deepening cooperation between Japan and India in the transfer of defence
equipment and technology. Under the leadership of two Ministers, they affirmed
their commitment to working together towards the early realization of the
project.
With
a view to materializing other projects in the field of defence equipment and
technology, they further concurred on advancing discussions among the
respective Services of the two countries concerning operational requirements.
The two Ministers also affirmed their commitment to deepening the defence
R&D cooperation between DRDO & ATLA in the field of state-of-the-art
defence technologies. Both Ministers also confirmed their intention to convene
a Defence Industry Forum.
The
two Ministers welcomed the first trilateral naval PASSEX exercise involving
Japan, India and Indonesia, which was conducted in February this year. With a
view to taking a comprehensive perspective of the Indo-Pacific and contributing
jointly to peace and stability in the region and the world, they concurred on
further deepening cooperation with third countries, through high level
exchanges, exercises and other relevant initiatives.
The
two Ministers concurred on further promoting cooperation through the
Indo-Pacific Logistics Network (IPLN) to support partner countries in the event
of a natural disaster, through transporting of personnel and supplies. They
welcomed that the second tabletop exercise of the IPLN is scheduled to be held
at the Japan Ministry of Defense in September this
year.
Recalling
the guidance set forth in the Japan-India Joint Statement issued by the leaders
of the two countries in July 2026, the two Ministers concurred on accelerating
discussions towards convening the Fourth Japan-India Foreign and Defence
Ministerial Meeting (“2+2”) in Tokyo in this year.
The
two Ministers further concurred that Japan and India will hold consultations,
when necessary, to ensure the security of both countries and peace and
stability in the region.
The
two Ministers concurred on establishing a Working Group, headed at the
Director-General/ Joint Secretary level to advance cooperation in an integrated
manner across the operational, intelligence, equipment, technology and
industrial domains, while fully respecting each country’s respective policies
and sovereign choices. The Working Group will provide overall coordination for
the directions of cooperation concurred upon by the two Ministers, maximize
synergies among the various areas of cooperation, and accelerate their
implementation.
Prior
to the meeting, Defense Minister KOIZUMI paid homage
to India’s fallen heroes by laying a wreath at the National War Memorial in New
Delhi and he was received with the ceremonial Tri-Service Guard of Honour. Defense Minister KOIZUMI also visited the Western Naval
Command (WNC) at Mumbai and Indian Naval Ship Chennai.”