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Japanese ships on way to India for joint exercise |
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With both India and Japan keen to build the strategic focus in their “global partnership”, the two nations are steadily stepping up their military ties, especially in the maritime domain.
Even as India’s Navy Chief, Admiral Sureesh Mehta, left for Japan on Aug 19, to discuss ways to bolster the bilateral defence relationship, three Japanese warships are headed for India’s western coast for a visit to Mumbai port as well as “Passex” exercise.
The warships, guided missile destroyers JDS Umigiri and JDS Asagiri, and a training ship, JDS Kashima, will be in the waters of Mumbai from Aug 23 to 26. They will exercise with one of the Indian Navy’s Delhi-class destroyers and a corvette, with manoeuvres-like flying operations, cross-check landings and over-the-horizon targeting.
Both India and Japan have common concerns about extremism and terrorism with a key focus on safety of sea lanes in the Indian Ocean region and beyond. The navies and coast guards of the two countries have been regularly holding joint exercises to build interoperability.
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