Tokyo, 25 December, /AJMEDIA/
Japan will hold its first-ever joint fighter jet drill with India in January near Tokyo, as the countries have been strengthening security ties amid China’s growing maritime assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific region.
The plan for joint air combat training was first agreed between foreign and defense ministers of the two nations during their inaugural “two-plus-two” security talks in New Delhi in November 2019.
But it has been postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic that began in early 2020, according to the Air Self-Defense Force.
From the Japanese ASDF, four F-2 and four F-15 fighters are set to join the drill slated for 11 days through Jan. 26 at Hyakuri Air Base in Ibaraki Prefecture, northeast of Tokyo.
Four Su-30MKI fighters and two C-17 transport aircraft of the Indian Air Force are expected to arrive in Japan on Jan. 10 to participate in the exercise, the ASDF said.
For Japan, India will be the fifth country to conduct such an exercise bilaterally after the United States, Australia, Britain and Germany, it added.
Through the joint training, the ASDF aims to “enhance tactical techniques, promote mutual understanding and deepen defense cooperation between Japanese and Indian air forces,” it said.
Japan and India are members of the Quad grouping, a multilateral framework also involving the United States and Australia, apparently designed to counter China’s increasing military and economic influence in the Indo-Pacific region.