AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE,
New Delhi: India's defence minister will visit Japan and China this week to forge closer links on military cooperation including anti-terrorism, a defence ministry official said Monday.
Pranab Mukherjee will be accompanied by senior civil and military officials during his May 25-June 1 trip, said the official who did not wish to be named.
The defence ministry said Mukherjee would arrive in Japan on Thursday.
Besides talks with his counterpart, Mukherjee would also meet the Japanese ministers for infrastructure and foreign affairs and the chief cabinet secretary, the ministry said in a statement.
Issues likely to figure during talks would include “the need for close defence cooperation … for promotion of peace and stability in Asia and at global level,” the statement said.
Countering terrorism and extremism, strengthening the stability of regional maritime traffic and the promotion of cooperation in the areas of disaster management would also be discussed, the statement said.
New Delhi hoped Japanese defence industries would play a niche role in India's defence modernisation programme, the statement said.
Mukherjee was due to arrive in Beijing on May 28 on the second leg of his Asian tour.
During his five-day stay in China, Mukherjee would hold talks with Defence Minister Cao Gangchuan and call on Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing, the statement said.
“Mukherjee will be laying emphasis on India's commitment to the development of a strategic and cooperative partnership for peace and prosperity between India and China,” it said.
“Indias desire to broaden and deepen defence and military exchanges with China to enhance mutual trust between the two armed forces,” would be conveyed during the talks.
An accord to institutionalize training, military exercises and other contacts between the two armed forces was expected to be signed.
“This is expected to serve as an instrument for a regular and sustained dialogue on defence and national defence issues between the two countries,” the statement added.
Mukherjee would visit some military institutions and installations in Beijing, Lanzhou and Shanghai before returning home on June 1.
China-India relations have improved in recent years as both countries have made efforts to complement instead of compete with each other's growth.
However the two still have not resolved a decades-old border dispute — the result of a brief but bitter conflict in 1962.
India says China occupies 38,000 square kilometres (15,200 square miles) of Indian territory in Kashmir while Beijing claims 90,000 square kilometres of the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh.
A formal ceasefire line was never established after the war but the border has remained mostly peaceful.
In April last year the two sides signed an agreement setting the “guiding principles” for a possible agreement.
