Two trilateral events involving the USA, India and Japan in June are set to bring focus on China in the region.
The three countries are planning to hold their trilateral foreign office dialogue next month, where issues such as regional connectivity, securing sea lanes of communication and disaster management among others will be discussed.
Though the dates for the meeting — at the level of joint secretaries in the foreign ministries — are not finalised yet, plans are afloat to conduct it in June, sources said.
The three countries are finding greater convergence of their interests in the Indo-Pacific region in the wake of China taking an aggressive stand on the issues of sovereignty disputes.
Japan has now become a regular part of the India-US annual Malabar exercise, with the Narendra Modi government deciding to make it a trilateral format.
This will be the third consecutive time that Japan is part of the exercise that had begun in 1992.
The joint naval exercise will be in waters near Okinawa Prefecture in Japan in mid-June.
Last December, India and Japan had decided that the latter would be a regular at the exercise.
{{/usCountry}}Last December, India and Japan had decided that the latter would be a regular at the exercise.
{{/usCountry}}Earlier, China was unhappy about the trilateral format.
Both Tokyo and New Delhi have shared concerns about China extending its naval presence in the Indian Ocean, wooing the littoral countries and scouting for bases.