India will hold a 2+2 Dialogue with Japan involving the Foreign and Defence Ministers on the same table to give momentum to security cooperation in the Indo-Pacific, where both sides share apprehensions about the aggressive expansion of Chinese interests and military capability.

The intention to scale up the level of engagement and lend it more seriousness and speed by holding a 2+2 Dialogue was declared in the Joint Statement at the conclusion of the Japan-India Annual Defence Ministerial Dialogue on September 2 and 3. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh is in Tokyo for the talks with his Japanese counterpart Takeshi Iwaya.

So far, India is in a 2+2 Dialogue format only with the US.

The two sides also agreed to explore cooperation with respect to third countries for "promoting peace and security in the Indo-Pacific".

"The Ministers affirmed their intention to hold the first Foreign and Defence Ministerial Dialogue (2+2) ahead of the Japan-India Annual Summit this year for advancing cooperation towards peace and prosperity of the Indo-Pacific region," the joint statement declared.

There were also significant references in the joint statement to a three-way cooperation involving India, Japan and the US. The trilateral maritime exercise Malabar 2019 will be held from late September to early October this year. This is traditionally an Indo-US bilateral exercise which is now being made a trilateral affair on a regularised basis by including Japan.

Strengthening cooperation in the area of defence equipment and technology was deemed "essential for further accelerating the cooperation between Japan and India". The Fifth Joint Working Group on Defence Equipment and Technology Cooperation (JWG-DETC) will be held as early as possible this year. The two sides are also negotiating an Acquisition and Cross-Servicing Agreement (ACSA)

"The Ministers also welcomed that the second Japan-India-U.S. trilateral mine-countermeasures exercise (MINEX) was held in July this year, and expressed their resolve to continue the trilateral exercise in the same framework from next year," the statement added.

"The Ministers also welcomed the first participation of the JASDF in the India-U.S. bilateral (air force) exercise "Cope India" as observers in December. They further underlined the importance of increasing the scope and depth of the Air Force to Air Force engagements including fighter aircraft cooperation," the statement declared.

The two sides also agreed to explore cooperation with respect to third countries for "promoting peace and security in the Indo-Pacific".

Strengthening cooperation in the area of defence equipment and technology was deemed "essential for further accelerating the cooperation between Japan and India". The Fifth Joint Working Group on Defence Equipment and Technology Cooperation (JWG-DETC) will be held as early as possible this year. The two sides are also negotiating an Acquisition and Cross-Servicing Agreement (ACSA).

Rajnath Singh also visited the Hamamatsu airbase where he was briefed about the F-15 fighter and the Kawasaki trainer. Minister Singh travelled to the airbase on the famed Shinkansen bullet train, which is another area of cooperation between the two sides.