New Delhi: India and Japan on Tuesday reaffirmed their commitment to maintaining and strengthening the rules-based international order founded on the principles of the UN Charter, respect for national sovereignty and territorial integrity and appreciated the progress made for the transfer of Unified Complex Radio Antenna (UNICORN) and related technologies and early signing of related arrangements.

During the 2+2 meeting held here, the two sides highlighted their common strategic vision towards a free and open Indo-Pacific, that is inclusive, peaceful, prosperous and resilient, as part of the rules-based international order.

The Minister of Defence Rajnath Singh, Minister of External Affairs S Jaishankar, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan, Kamikawa Yoko and Minister of Defence of Japan, Kihara Minoru agreed on the principles of the UN Charter, respect for national sovereignty and territorial integrity, and peaceful settlement of disputes without resorting to the threat or use of force, and emphasized the need for all countries to refrain from any attempt to unilaterally change the status quo.

They unequivocally condemned terrorism and violent extremism in all its forms and manifestations, including cross-border terrorism, and called for bringing the perpetrators of 26/11 Mumbai, Pathankot, and other attacks to justice. They called for concerted actions against all UN-listed terrorist groups including Al Qaeda, ISIS/Daesh, Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LeT), Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) and their proxy groups, and to take resolute actions to root out terrorists' safe havens, eliminate terrorist financing channels, and halt cross-border movement of terrorists.

The Ministers reiterated their strong support for ASEAN's unity and centrality and their full support for the "ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific (AOIP)" which upholds the principles such as openness, transparency, inclusivity, a rules-based framework and respect for international law. They had a frank and wide-ranging discussion on regional and global issues focusing on the shared Indo-Pacific region. The Ministers valued their cooperation in Quad and reaffirmed their commitment to advance it further based on the discussion at the Quad Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Tokyo on July 29, the statement said.

The Ministers noted with pleasure the progress made since their last meeting in September 2022 to promote cooperation on cross-cutting security issues through the architecture of multi-layered dialogues between the two countries, such as Defence Policy Dialogue, Foreign Office Consultations (FOC), Vice Minister/Foreign Secretary level Dialogue, the Disarmament and Non-Proliferation Dialogue, the Cyber Dialogue, the India-Japan Joint Working Group on Counter-Terrorism, and other regional consultations on emerging and hotspot issues. They also looked forward to having dialogues in areas such as space, maritime affairs and Africa. Furthermore, in light of the strategic depth of the bilateral relations, they concurred on promoting in-depth dialogues for further cooperation in the field of economic security and strategic trade. They also concurred to continue to work together on Security Council reform with a view to strengthening the UN, the statement said.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh termed India and Japan as 'important guards' of the Indo-Pacific region and said the partnership between the two nations is essential for peace and stability in the region. He also lauded the increase in the bilateral and defence cooperation between the two nations in recent years.

"As two important stakeholders of Indo-Pacific, India and Japan are important guards of this region. So, this partnership is essential for peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific Region. 2023 proved to be a milestone year in our defence engagement...For the first time, joint exercises were held in all three services in one calendar year," Singh said.

India is keen to become a developed country by 2047 and partnership with Japan will play an important role in the completion of this vision in areas such as defence technology and industry, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said.

The Defence Minister said the bilateral ties between India and Japan have gained strength in all areas.

"Bilateral relations between the two nations have increased in all areas. Defence has emerged as an important pillar in these relations. We have decided to make India a developed and transformed nation by 2047, on the completion of 100 years of India's independence," he said.

"A free, open and rules-based Indo-Pacific is the top priority for both our countries. We explored the possibility of coordinating our respective security and development assistance where our interests converge," he said.

"India and Japan are resolute in our opposition to terrorism, including cross-border terrorism. We discussed strengthening our capacity-building cooperation, including on dealing with challenges emanating in the cyber space and through the misuse of digital technologies. We have underlined our interest in deepening information-sharing, and cooperation for protection of critical information infrastructure," he said.

Cooperation between India and Japan is today set against a larger context of a free, open and rules-based Indo-Pacific, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said.

In his opening remarks at the third round of the India-Japan 2+2 Foreign and Defence Ministerial meeting held here, Jaishankar also spoke of the need of reliable partners in a more volatile and unpredictable world.

EAM Jaishankar said that India will open a new Consulate in the city of Fukuoka. "I am happy to share with you that in order to nurture our growing people-to-people ties, we will open a new Consulate in the city of Fukuoka. I requested Foreign Minister Kamikawa for her support to make this Consulate operational at an early date," he said.

Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa says, "At this 2+2 meeting, as the world stands at a historical juncture, the two sides reaffirmed our strong determination to cooperate towards regional peace and prosperity. Also, as we coordinate towards PM Modi's visit to Japan as part of the annual mutual visit, we had a candid discussion on the specific way forward in security and defence cooperation. I wish to highlight 2 items as outcome of 2+2. First, we concurred to deepen our cooperation towards the realisation of a Free and Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP). At today's meeting, we reaffirmed our commitment to object to unilateral attempts to change status-quo by force and to uphold the free and open international order based on the rule of law."