India and Japan on Thursday inked a ‘memorandum of arrangement’ on maritime cooperation facilitating greater synergy between navies of the two countries and said they were exploring joint development in naval warship building.The move was announced in a statement that followed a bilateral meeting Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had with his Japanese counterpart Shinjiro Koizumi, here in New Delhi.The maritime security cooperation would be between the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force and the Indian Navy, including on information sharing in the field of maritime domain awareness, as well as enhanced cooperation in search and rescue missions.The statement listed the scope of the maritime cooperation saying — “It would strengthen coordination between both sides for the protection of Sea Lines of Communications; allow for logistical support, including use of ports, maintenance and repair facilities.”To realise the full spectrum of cooperation, the two ministers said: “Both sides should enhance capabilities to counter under sea mines and explore the possibility of joint development in naval shipbuilding and design by leveraging Japan’s technological expertise and India’s production capabilities”.Japan’s Defence Minister Shinjiro Koizumi inspects the ceremonial Guard of Honour at the Manekshaw Centre in New Delhi on Thursday. Tribune photo: Mukesh AggarwalA reciprocal provision of ship repair facilities, including the conclusion of a ship repair arrangement could be signed in the near future. Besides this, India and Japan would be deepening their discussion on Japan making military equipment in India.Rajnath and Shinjiro recalled the Japan-India Joint Statement issued in July after Prime Minister Narendra Modi met his Japanese counterpart Sanae Takaichi. A joint statement issued in July had welcomed Japan’s review of its ‘three principles on the transfer of defence equipment and technology’ and hoped that it will deepen defence partnership between the two countries.In an obvious, unnamed, reference to China, Rajnath-Shinjiro spoke about the need to further ‘deepen defence cooperation to realise a free and open Indo-Pacific’. “They expressed their strong opposition to any unilateral actions that impede freedom and safety of navigation and overflight, as well as to any attempts to change the status-quo by force or coercion.”In strategic circles the phrase ‘freedom and safety of navigation and overflight’ is euphemism for opposing Chinese hegemony and attempts to impede traffic at sea and in air.On the tactical front, India and Japan discussed adding complexities to bilateral military exercises, including integration of unmanned systems. Special Operations Forces of both sides will exercise with each other while the Indian Air Force will go to Japan later this year for the first-ever air exercise.The statement also mentioned the project concerning the shipborne integrated communications antenna system, called UNICORN. It is first defence equipment transfer project between the two countries. “Affirmed a commitment to working together towards the early realisation of the project,” the statement said.The two sides are also looking to deepening defence R&D cooperation between DRDO and the Japanese agency ATLA, in the field of state-of-the-art defence technologies.The two ministers concurred on accelerating discussions towards convening the fourth Japan-India Foreign and Defence Ministerial Meeting (“2+2”) in Tokyo in this year.Lastly, the two sides have concurred on establishing a working group, headed at the Director-General-Joint Secretary level to advance cooperation in an integrated manner across the operational, intelligence, equipment, technology and industrial domains.The Working Group will provide overall coordination for the directions of cooperation and accelerate implementation.Prior to the meeting, the Japanese Defence Minister paid homage to India’s fallen heroes by laying a wreath at the National War Memorial in New Delhi.