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The third India-Japan Space Dialogue was held in Tokyo on April 1.
The Indian delegation was co-led by Muanpuii Saiawi, Joint Secretary, Disarmament and International Security Affairs Division, of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and M Ganesh Pillai, Scientific Secretary, Indian Space Research Organisation, Department of Space. The Japanese delegation was co-led by Saita Yukio, Assistant Minister and Ambassador in charge of Space Policy, Foreign Policy Bureau in Japan's Foreign Ministry and Kazeki Jun, Director General, National Space Policy Secretariat in Japan's Cabinet Office. The dialogue brought together ministries and agencies pertaining to outer space and allowed for exchange of views on their respective space policies and priorities, according to a statement by the MEA. Discussions were held on the national space programmes of both countries, bilateral space cooperation, space situational awareness (SSA), space security, Quad space cooperation, industry-level cooperation and commercial space collaboration. The Indian co-chairs also visited the Tsukuba Space Center of the Japanese national space agency known as Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)'s on March 31. The dialogue was preceded by an industry cooperation event organised by IN-SPACe, a single-window, independent, nodal agency which functions as an autonomous agency under India's Department of Space (DOS) and Japan's Cabinet Office. It witnessed participation of representatives of Japanese and Indian companies and industry associations. The Japanese delegation stated that today's event marked the beginning of the "Japan India Science Technology and Innovation Exchange Year" and that Japan would like to work together with India to make the Exchange Year a great success, according to Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA). The second India - Japan Space Dialogue meeting was held virtually on November 2, 2021 with participation from ISRO, MEA, NSCS from Indian side and JAXA, MFA, DOD from the Japanese side. The first space dialogue between the two countries was held in New Delhi on March 8, 2019. Earlier in January this year, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met with his Japanese counterpart Iwaya Takeshi during his visit to Washington, D.C., to attend US President Donald Trump's inauguration Ceremony. The Ministers said that the period between April 2025- March 2026 will be celebrated as "Japan India Science Technology and Innovation Exchange Year." "Both Ministers exchanged views on concrete efforts for bilateral cooperation in various areas such as security, economy and people-to-people exchange. During the meeting, considering that this year marks the 40th anniversary of the signing of the agreement on cooperation in the field of science and technology, they concurred to designate the period from April this year to March of the following year as "Japan India Science Technology and Innovation Exchange Year" (STIY25) to further advance cooperation by leveraging each other's strengths in the fields of science, technology, and innovation. Both Ministers also held discussions on efforts by the Quad (Japan-Australia-India-US)," a statement read. Meanwhile, the space agencies of the two countries ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) and JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) are collaborating on the LUPEX (Lunar Polar Exploration) mission, a joint robotic lunar mission aimed at exploring the Moon's south polar region, with JAXA providing the rover and ISRO the lander. (ANI)
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