India and Japan have formalized a new agreement aimed at strengthening maritime security collaboration. On Thursday, during discussions in Delhi, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and his Japanese counterpart Shinjiro Koizumi signed a memorandum of arrangement that emphasizes closer cooperation between the Indian Navy and the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force. This initiative is part of ongoing efforts to enhance military ties between the two nations.
Another outcome of the delegation-level talks was the two leaders agreeing to set up a working group to boost cooperation in a raft of areas including operations, intelligence, equipment, technology and industrial cooperation. Singh and Koizumi met weeks after India and Japan unveiled measures to expand cooperation in defence, energy security, rare earths and AI, and finalised a joint roadmap on economic security at the 16th India-Japan Summit, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Sanae Takaichi stressed the importance of mutual trust in a world order facing growing uncertainty. This marks a rare, and possibly the first, reference to India’s planned theatre commands in a joint statement. The mention comes at a pivotal moment as the country takes steps to advance theaterisation, a long-awaited reform designed to integrate the military’s resources for future conflicts.
“The arrangement provides a framework for information sharing in the field of maritime domain awareness (MDA), and enhanced cooperation in areas such as search and rescue (SAR) and humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR),” the two sides announced in a joint statement. “The working group will maximise synergies among the various areas of cooperation, and accelerate their implementation,” the statement said. “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,” the joint statement added.
“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 any attempts to change the status quo by force or coercion. “An important step towards stability in the Indo-Pacific region! We exchanged views centring on strengthening maritime security cooperation, promoting defence technology cooperation under the Make in India initiative, and expanding strategic trust,” he wrote on X.
