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Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday welcomed his Japanese counterpart, Shinjiro Koizumi, on his maiden visit to India with a polite, traditional Japanese afternoon greeting.
In a post on X, he said, "Konichiwa Koizumi San!" "Happy to welcome my Japanese counterpart on his maiden visit to India," he added. Earlier, Koizumi inspected the ceremonial Guard of Honour at the Manekshaw Centre in New Delhi in the presence of the Defence Minister. He also laid a wreath at the National War Memorial and paid tribute to the fallen soldiers. Meanwhile, on Wednesday, Koizumi arrived in Mumbai for his maiden official visit to India, kicking off a two-day itinerary focused on deepening defence ties and advancing maritime security cooperation between the two nations. Upon his arrival, Koizumi inspected a Guard of Honour at the Western Naval Command in Mumbai and laid a wreath at the Gaurav Stambh at the Naval Dockyard. As part of his operational briefings, the Japanese Defence Minister visited the indigenous stealth destroyer INS Chennai and held strategic discussions with Indian Navy Chief Admiral Krishna Swaminathan and Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Western Naval Command, Vice Admiral Sanjay Mahajan Vatsayan. According to the Ministry of Defence, the Japanese delegation was comprehensively briefed on the operational capabilities, roles and regional responsibilities of the Indian Navy. Highlighting the engagement on social media, Japanese Ambassador to India Keiichi Ono welcomed the visiting minister in a post on X, noting: "Welcome to India, Minister Koizumi @shinjirokoiz, Defense Minister of Japan! The 2-day program began yesterday with a visit to the Western Naval Command in Mumbai. Had fruitful discussions on advancing maritime cooperation." Building on these opening engagements in Mumbai, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will hold a bilateral meeting with Koizumi in New Delhi on Thursday to further bolster bilateral defence relations and promote peace across the Indo-Pacific region. "The meeting is expected to further strengthen bilateral defence relations, enhance strategic trust and cooperation, promote stability & security in the Indo-Pacific region, and identify new areas of collaboration," the Defence Ministry said. The Ministry further stated that the two leaders will exchange views on deeper maritime security cooperation and closer defence equipment and technology collaboration under the 'Make-in-India' framework, following Japan's revision of its Three Principles on Transfer of Defence Equipment and Technology. "The meeting provides an opportunity to build a roadmap for further advancing bilateral defence and security cooperation," the Ministry added, emphasising that India and Japan share a common vision of building a free, open, resilient and prosperous Indo-Pacific region. "The two-day visit of the Japanese Defence Minister underscores the growing momentum in bilateral defence cooperation and reflects the commitment of both sides to further expand the partnership," it noted. This high-level security dialogue comes weeks after Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi visited India in July for the 16th Annual Summit with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. During that summit, both sides agreed to deepen defence and security cooperation, signing over USD 10 billion in agreements aimed at boosting investments in AI, defence and clean energy, alongside targeting 10 trillion yen in Japanese investments over the next decade. (ANI)
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