India & Japan In Cyber Security Pact
India and Japan have decided to collaborate in the areas of cyber security and outer-space as part of their growing security partnership in the Indo-Pacific region. This project comes at a time of increasing violation of social media platforms by extremists and India’s successful Anti-Satellite Weapons (ASAT) test.
Collaboration on these critical areas gathered pace when external affairs minister S Jaishankar met his Japanese counter-part Taro Kono for strategic dialogue in Osaka on the sidelines of the recent G20 Summit.
The United States, Russia and China are the only other nations that have demonstrated ASAT capabilities. While India demonstrated its ASAT capability in March, Japan has a well-established space programme and is keen to have a presence in outer space to counter neighbouring China’s ambitions in outer space. Jaishankar and Kono decided to convene a maiden 2+2 ministerial meeting of foreign and defence ministers of India and Japan at the earliest, to be followed by the annual summit in India later this year.
The 2+2 meet will enable wider defence and security cooperation between the two countries. The two ministers also reviewed connectivity projects involving India and Japan, including prospective ones in Sri Lanka, besides infrastructure projects supported by Japan in Northeast India. India and Japan are engaged in third country projects in Bhutan, Bangladesh, Myanmar and Kenya.
Jaishankar and Kono also decided to steadily follow up on the discussions at the second Japan-India-US trilateral summit, held in Osaka on June 28, about cybersecurity and quality infrastructure investment.
The next trilateral foreign ministers’ meeting will be held in Japan. The two ministers also reviewed the progress of the Quadrilateral and Jaishankar expressed interest in holding a Japan-India-US trilateral foreign ministers’ meeting in the future, according to people privy to the discussions.
Kono said he expects that the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) negotiations among 16 countries including India will be concluded this year and asked for India’s cooperation, said one person.
The two ministers shared the view that bilateral cooperation should continue for the realisation of a free and open Indo-Pacific. They also held extensive discussion on regional affairs including Iran and South Asia.
Both Japan and India favour reduction of tensions vis-à-vis Iran and resumption of respective business engagements with the country.
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