Explained: The new India-Japan defence roadmap, from maritime security to joint shipbuilding

“Pleased to receive the Defence Minister of Japan, Shinjiro Koizumi. Had an excellent conversation on deepening defence and security ties between India and Japan. Our Special Strategic and Global Partnership is an important anchor for peace, stability and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific and beyond,” Modi wrote on X.

According to an official statement, the PM had outlined his vision for further strengthening the Special Strategic and Global Partnership between India and Japan during the interaction. He also “highlighted the importance of India-Japan defence and security cooperation in furthering peace, stability and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific and beyond”.

India-Japan Defence MoU

Koizumi also held a bilateral meeting with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday to “further deepen defence cooperation”. A joint statement released after the interaction also invoked the Japan-India Special Strategic and Global Partnership signed in 2014. The two leaders also signed a Memorandum of Arrangement on Maritime Security Cooperation — envisaging greater information sharing in Maritime Domain Awareness and enhanced cooperation in Search and Rescue as well as Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief.

India and Japan have also agreed to strengthen coordination for protecting Sea Lines of Communication through naval ship visits, joint exercises, personnel and subject-matter expert exchanges and logistical support, including the use of ports and maintenance and repair facilities. The two countries will explore joint development in naval shipbuilding and design — leveraging Japanese technological expertise and Indian production capabilities.

“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…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,” an official statement added.

Singh also spoke about the “close alignment” between the global maritime vision of India (called Mutual and Holistic Advancement for Security and Growth Across Regions or MAHASAGAR) and Japan’s Free and Open Indo-Pacific initiative. The two leaders agreed to deepen cooperation through bilateral exercises — using enhanced complexities, integration of unmanned systems and pursuing joint exercises at short notice when possible. 

• Use of Indian production capabilities under the ‘Make in India’ framework while both sides work towards reciprocal provision of ship repair facilities.
• Increased cooperation among the armed forces through exchanges between the two countries’ Special Operations Forces, while Japan and India will explore cooperation with India’s integrated theatre commands following their establishment.

Defence equipment transfer

The focus also remained on the shipborne UNICORN integrated communications antenna system — the first defence equipment transfer project between India and Japan. The project has been described by both sides as a symbol of their deepening defence technology partnership. 

“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 statement added.

The Unified Complex Radio Antenna (UNICORN) is a mast with Integrated Communication systems which will help improve the stealth characteristics of Naval Platforms. Agreements for the defence co-development project were signed in July as Japanese PM Sanae Takaichi visited India. These advanced systems will be co-developed by Bharat Electronics Limited in India with Japanese collaboration