Defence chiefs from India and Japan met in New Delhi on Monday, committing to increase joint exercises, set up a senior officer-level dialogue, and protect major sea lanes in the Indo-Pacific as the region becomes “more complex and uncertain.”
According to Tokyo, on Monday, Japanese defence minister Nakatani Gen “extended his sincere condolences” to his Indian counterpart, Rajnath Singh, over the April 22 terrorist attack in Kashmir that killed 26 people. New Delhi alleges the terrorists had ties to Pakistan, a charge rejected by Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
Nakatani added that Japan is “firmly committed to combating terrorism in co-operation with India.”
The meeting came just a day before New Delhi launched strikes on six “terrorist infrastructure sites” in Pakistan, ratcheting up tensions between the nuclear-armed neighbours.
Islamabad said the strikes killed 26 people, and that Pakistan’s air force shot down five Indian fighter jets. India hasn’t commented on the downed jets but stated that 15 civilians had been killed by Pakistani shelling.
Pakistan has vowed to retaliate, raising the risk of a full-scale military conflict between the two countries. The Kremlin has offered to mediate India-Pakistan tensions.
