India and Japan hold first 'two-plus-two' dialogue; key facets of defence and security cooperation discussed in meeting

New Delhi: India and Japan on Saturday held their inaugural foreign and defence ministerial dialogue with an aim to give further momentum to their special strategic partnership, particularly in the maritime domain. [caption id=“attachment_7721681” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Defence Minister Rajnath Singh with his Japanese counterpart Taro Kono at Hyderabad House, in New Delhi, Saturday. PTI[/caption] Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar led the Indian delegation while the Japanese side was headed by Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi and Minister of Defence Taro Kono, officials said. The talks under the new framework are taking place following a decision taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe during the 13th India-Japan annual summit last year. The two leaders decided to institute the new mechanism for further deepening bilateral security and defence cooperation and bring greater depth to the special strategic and global partnership between the two countries. In the talks, the two sides exchanged views on the situation in the Indo-Pacific region and resolved to work for achieving shared objective of peace, prosperity and progress in the region. The meeting also deliberated on various key facets of India-Japan defence and security cooperation.