Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: Japan and India are breaking through decades of constraints and traditional defence partnerships to forge an “unprecedented high-technology military collaboration”, Tokyo-based Japan Forward Association emphasised this week in a detailed report. “The Indo-Pacific region is at a critical juncture where technological superiority increasingly determines strategic outcomes. Against this backdrop, Japan and India are breaking through decades of constraints and traditional defence partnerships to forge an unprecedented high-technology military collaboration,” wrote Pema Gyalpo, a visiting professor at the Takushoku University Centre for Indo-Pacific Strategic Studies.
“This evolving relationship transcends conventional arms trade. It represents a fundamental reimagining of how two major democracies can jointly develop, produce, and deploy cutting-edge defence systems that will shape regional security architectures for generations,” Gyalpo added in a report titled ‘Japan, India Security Cooperation Rises Across the Board’.
India and Japan share a long-term friendship, which has further gained qualitative momentum after the elevation of this collaboration to Special Strategic and Global Partnership in 2014. Defence exchanges between India and Japan have gained strength in recent years due to the growing convergence on strategic matters. Its significance is increasing from the common outlook on issues of peace, security and stability of the Indo-Pacific Region.
A Memorandum of Implementation was signed at the Embassy of India, Tokyo on November 15, 2024 between India and Japan, for co-development of Unified Complex Radio Antenna (UNICORN) mast for fitment onboard ships of the Indian Navy. The MOI was signed and exchanged between the Ambassador of India to Japan, Sibi George and Ishikawa Takeshi, Commissioner of Acquisition Technology and Logistics Agency (ATLA) under Japan MoD in a ceremony at Tokyo.
