India keen to source defence technologies from Japan: Arun Jaitley

Jaitley, who met his Japanese counterpart Tomomi Inada on Monday, said India and Japan share “a very strong relationship between (their) defence forces”.

India is looking to strengthen its military cooperation with Japan and is interested in sourcing defence technologies for domestic manufacture of arms and equipment, defence minister Arun Jaitley said.

Defense minister Arun Jaitley, left, is greeted by his Japanese counterpart Tomomi Inada prior to their meeting at Defense Ministry in Tokyo on May 8. (AP Photo)

Jaitley, who met his Japanese counterpart Tomomi Inada on Monday, said India and Japan share “a very strong relationship between (their) defence forces” and the two nations will pursue strategic partnership for regional peace and stability.

“There have been training and naval exercises. There is a lot of cooperation that takes place (between the two nations),” he told PTI in an interview.

He said India is looking at Japanese technology for local manufacturing of defence equipment.

“Japan has a lot of defence technologies and India of course, has a great use of these technologies because we are attempting to have local manufacturing in India,” he said.

India and Japan, he said, are looking at business-to- business cooperation.

This cooperation would be “both for the purposes of India buying (from Japan) and any possibility of India domestically manufacturing with their technologies.”

Jaitley, who is also the finance minister, wrapped up a three-day visit to Japan on Monday where he attended an annual meeting of the Asian Development Bank and investor meets.

“This is all reflective of the level of cooperation our armed forces have with each other,” he said.

His visit to Japan, a staunch US ally, comes amid rising tension in the region

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has sought to expand Japan’s defence role and capability amid security concerns over China and North Korea, according to AP.