India, Japan Deepen Maritime Ties Amid China’s Military Muscle-Flexing

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and his Japanese counterpart Shinjiro Koizumi, during their talks, expressed strong opposition to unilateral actions that impede freedom and safety of navigation and overflight, as well as attempts to alter the status quo through force or coercion. Though China was not directly named in their joint statement, the remarks come amid growing concerns in New Delhi and Tokyo over Beijing’s increasingly assertive military posture in the South and East China Seas. Maritime Security Pact Singh and Koizumi signed a Memorandum of Arrangement on maritime security cooperation, providing a framework for further expanding collaboration between the Japan…