India's external affairs minister S Jaishankar said that the cooperation between India and Japan is set against a larger context of a “free, open and rules-based Indo-Pacific.” In his opening remarks at the third India-Japan 2+2 Ministerial Meeting, the minister said,"For India, this is a natural extrapolation from our Act East policy. Indeed, the proportion of our activities and interests East of India has been steadily growing."
Jaishankar, who met his Japanese counterpart Kamikawa Yoko earlier in the day, said in the last decade, India-Japan ties assumed the form of a “Special Strategic and Global Partnership.”
“The logic of this evolution is our expanding interests and growing activities. As we both step forward into a more volatile and unpredictable world, there is a need for reliable partners with whom there are substantial convergences,” the external affairs ministry quoted Jaishankar as saying.
“As a result, we have consciously sought to facilitate each other’s endeavours, comprehend each other’s objectives, strengthen each other’s positions and work with other nations of shared comfort. Our Strategic Partnership will continue to grow as we embrace mutuality and display sensitivity,” the minister added.
During the press interaction, Jaishankar once again reiterated a “free, open and rules-based Indo-Pacific” as the top priority for both the countries. “We explored the possibility of coordinating our respective security and development assistance where our interests converge,” he added.
Jaishankar said both India and Japan are resolute in their opposition to terror, including cross-border terrorism. “We discussed strengthening our capacity-building cooperation, including on dealing with challenges emanating in the cyber space and through the misuse of digital technologies,” he said.
