India and Japan are going to hold their first – ever joint military exercise between Nov 1 and Nov 14, 2018 at the Counter Insurgency Warfare School in Mizoram. The military exercise named DHARMA GUARDIAN 2018 will be held between the Indian army and the Japan Ground Self Defense Force…
India and Japan are going to hold their first-ever joint military exercise between Nov 1 and Nov 14, 2018, at the Counter Insurgency Warfare School in Mizoram.
The military exercise named DHARMA GUARDIAN 2018 will be held between the Indian army and the Japan Ground Self Defense Force.
Background
Japan and India enjoy warm and cordial relations since the establishment of diplomatic ties in 1952. They are the largest and oldest democracies in Asia, having a high degree of congruence of political, economic and strategic interests.
Japan and India have signed a number of mutual treaties. These include the Treaty of Peace, 1952; Agreement for Air Service, 1956, Cultural Agreement, 1957; Agreement of Commerce, 1958; Convention for the Avoidance of Double Taxation, 1960; Agreement on Cooperation in the field of Science and Technology, 1985; and Japan-India Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement which include goods, services, movement of natural persons, custom procedures, investments and intellectual properties, 2011.
Both the countries have shared interests in maintaining the security of sea lanes in the Asia Pacific and the Indian Ocean. India and Japan concluded a security pact on 22 October 2008. Also, India and Japan are desirous of having permanent membership in the United Nations Security Council.
Analysis
India and Japan are set to hold the first-ever joint military exercise ‘Dharma Guardian – 2018’ with the Indian Army and Japan Ground Self Defense Force at the Counter Insurgency Warfare School in Variegate, Mizoram from November 1st to November 14th.
The Indian contingent will be represented by 6/1 Gorkha Rifles while the Japanese contingent will be represented by 32 Infantry Regiment of the Japanese Ground Self Defense Force. During the 14-day exercise, due emphasis will be laid on increasing interoperability between forces from both countries.
Both parties will jointly train, plan and execute a series of well-developed tactical drills for neutralization of likely threats that may be encountered during an urban warfare scenario. They will hold detailed discussions to share their expertise.
Exercise ‘Dharma Guardian – 2018’ is yet another step that will deepen the strategic ties including closer defence cooperation between the two countries. It will contribute immensely in developing mutual understanding and respect each other’s militaries and also facilitate tackling terrorism.
The decision to hold the first army exercise was taken during the Annual Defence Dialogue in August between Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and her Japanese counterpart Itsunori Onodera. The two sides decided to raise the level of maritime exercises particularly in the sphere of anti-submarine warfare and mine detection measures. At the end of talks, both India and Japan wanted deeper cooperation in peacekeeping operations(PKOs), counter-terrorism including the possibility of joint field exercises between the Indian Army and Japan’s Ground Self-Defence Force (JGSDF) in 2018, and reciprocal visits by air assets to each other’s country. Both countries have a long-standing partnership between the two Coast Guards too.
Indian and Japanese navies regularly hold regular exercises in high seas but this is the first time ever that the armies of two nations will hold a joint exercise.
Indian PM Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe will hold the 13th India – Japan summit in Tokyo on October 28th and 29th. They are likely to discuss a proposal to ink an agreement which will lay the framework to share military assets and capabilities and provide logistical support. The pact once signed, will allow India to use the military facilities of Japan, including their overseas base in Djibouti. It will also allow Japan to use military bases in India, including the one in Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
Assessment
Our assessment is that India and Japan will step up their bilateral defence ties to build strong deterrence capability against China. Japan, an ally of both the US and India, is also a strategic military partner to the US. After China rolled out its CPEC vision, there has been a definite alignment of geopolitical interest amongst various countries in Asia. The US, Japan and India have converging interests for the present and that is to contain the expansion and advancement of the Chinese sphere of influence.
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