Exchanging views on regional situations, including the East China Sea and the South China Sea, in the light of the current events, Defence Ministers of India and Japan on Tuesday “concurred” in sending a clear message that they “strongly oppose any attempts to unilaterally change the status quo by coercion or any activities that escalate tension,” Japanese Ministry of Defence said in a statement on Tuesday.
The views were exchanged during a telephonic conversation between Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and his Japanese counterpart Kishi Nobuo. “The two Ministers exchanged views on security situation in the region and the need for a free and open maritime order based on the rule of law,” the Defence Ministry said in a separate statement.
Discussing cooperation measures against the risks posed by infectious diseases that could affect peace and security, the two Ministers agreed on “finding new opportunities for cooperation in third countries in order to make them more resilient to the pandemic” and sharing lessons learned in humanitarian aid and disaster response (HADR) operations during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The two countries exchanged “views on reinforcing the rules-based international order, including working together to counter disinformation in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic,” the Japanese statement added.
