Defence minister heads for Japan to boost defence ties

New Delhi: Defence minister AK Antony will visit Japan early-November in a bid to upgrade Indo-Japanese military ties. New initiatives will include joint combat exercises, coordinated anti-piracy patrols as well as counter-terrorism and service-to-service exchanges.

At the head of a high-level delegation, Antony will hold detailed discussions with his Japanese counterpart on 2 November in the course of a three-day visit.

India and Japan have charted out an "action plan to advance security cooperation", maritime security dialogue and defence policy dialogue.

The nine-point action plan talks about strategic and defence cooperation as well as coordination in tackling terrorism, piracy and proliferation, and is meant to reinforce the strategic focus in the "global partnership" between India and Japan.

China will figure as a prominent subject in any such dialogue, with both countries wary of their much larger neighbour and its expanding presence in the sea lanes in and around Asia.