Stars and Stripes
January 13, 2014
Japan looks to join India, US in naval exercise
By Erik Slavin Stars and Stripes
YOKOSUKA NAVAL BASE, Japan: The Japanese Self-Defense Force wants to join an annual sea drill held by the United States and India later this year, according to Indian media reports.
The request to participate in the Malabar exercise came during a four-day visit to New Delhi last week by Japanese Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera, and just one month after Japan and India held their first-ever bilateral exercise in the Bay of Bengal.
Japan and India both saw tensions rise last year over separate territorial disputes with China.
“During the meeting with [Indian defense minister] AK Antony, I asked for the participation of the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Forces in the naval war games,” Onodera said recently, according to The Times of India.
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Neither India nor the United States…
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