Govt to promote Japanese defence industry’s entry into India

New Delhi, Sep 3 (IANS) India has agreed with Japan to promote measures that would enable the entry of the Japanese arms manufacturing industry into the Indian market during Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh's two-day visit to the country.

A joint statement on the Annual Defence Ministerial meeting between India and Japan was released at the end of Singh's two-day visit on Tuesday.

As per the statement, Singh and his Japanese counterpart Takeshi Iwaya reaffirmed their intention to deepen discussion between Japan's Acquisition, Technology and Logistics Agency (ATLA) and the Department of Defence Production (DDP) of India on measures to promote the active entry of the Japanese defence industry into the Indian defence industry.

The statement further said that the Indian defence industry "has large potential in general as also in the newly established Defence Corridors in India". The ministers also noted the importance of interaction between defence industry associations of Japan and India. An invitation has been extended to Japan for attending the DEFEXPO 2020 which will be held in Lucknow next year.

During the course of Singh's visit, the two countries affirmed their intention to hold the first Foreign and Defence Ministerial Dialogue (two-plus-two) ahead of the Japan-India annual summit this year.

The primary objective behind holding the two-plus-two dialogue for India and Japan is to take measures to prevent the rise of any hegemonic power in Asia.

During the course of his visit, Singh took a bullet train ride on Tuesday from Shin Yokohama to Hamamatsu Airbase. India is working on a bullet train project with active co-operation from Japan.

"At the Hamamatsu Airbase in Japan, I had a good look at the functioning of F-15 and also spent some time checking out the trainer plane," tweeted Singh.

The Defence Minister is scheduled for an official visit to the Republic of Korea on September 5 and 6.