Tokyo, Oct 9 (IANS) Vice Chief of the Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Ajay Kochhar, visited Japan to strengthen India-Japan cooperation in shipbuilding and mine countermeasures and to explore possibilities for joint development under ‘Make in India’ initiative, the Embassy of India in Japan said on Friday.
“During the visit, Vice Admiral Kochhar held bilateral consultations with Vice Admiral Yasuhiro Kunimi, Vice Chief of Staff of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF), and Lieutenant General Norimichi Shirakawa, Vice Chief of Staff of Japan’s Joint Staff. He also met Rear Admiral Toshiyuki Hirata of the JMSDF, and the two sides reaffirmed their commitment to continue close collaboration to strengthen India-Japan defence cooperation,” the Embassy stated. on X.
Vice Admiral Kochhar also held discussions with India’s Ambassador to Japan, Nagma Mallick, at the Embassy of India in Japan. He also visited the JMSDF frigate JS Mogami, where he met Vice Admiral Izuru Ikeuchi, Commander of the Fleet Surface Force, and toured the ship’s facilities. The two nations reaffirmed their shared understanding to further deepen cooperation in the maritime domain and explore new possibilities for collaboration, the Embassy mentioned.
The visit comes after the defence ministers of the two countries agreed to leverage each other’s strengths in defence shipbuilding.
In a joint statement issued after the Japan-India Defence Ministers’ Meeting between Rajnath Singh and his Japanese counterpart Shinjiro Koizumi in New Delhi on August 20, the two sides had stressed the importance of sharing assessments of the regional and international security environment amid heightened global tensions.
The two ministers agreed to deepen 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.
