Making an obvious yet unnamed reference to China, Japan’s Defence Minister Shinjiro Koizumi on Friday said defence cooperation with India is a ‘visible action’ on ensuring maritime safety in the region.Koizumi referred to the meeting he had in New Delhi with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday and posted on X, “Strengthening of defence cooperation — agreed upon between Singh and me — is precisely about putting the realisation of a ‘Free and Open Indo-Pacific’ into visible action.”In strategic circles, the phrase ‘free and open Indo-Pacific’ is euphemism for opposing Chinese hegemony and attempts to impede maritime traffic and air traffic in the South China Sea.The Japanese minister was in India on August 19-20 and his post on X is a reaction to the post by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday night.Koizumi had called on Modi on Thursday before leaving India. Modi had posted a picture of the meeting and posted, “Pleased to receive Defence Minister of Japan Shinjiro Koizumi.”“Had an excellent conversation on deepening defence and security ties between India and Japan. Our special strategic and global partnership is an important anchor for peace, stability and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific and beyond,” Modi had posted.Shinjiro said his final schedule in India was a courtesy call on Prime Minister Modi. “During the approximately 30-minute meeting, I was once again struck by the realisation that the ‘Free and Open Indo-Pacific’ vision advocated by former prime minister Shinzo Abe serves as the foundation for strategic alignment with India.”