Indo- Japan strategic axis formed for encircling China ?

(Vndata- Dec 21, 2013) The first Japan - India joint naval exercise, is ongoing in the Indian Ocean, showing signs of forming a new strategic military alliance in Asia.

The four-day long exercise in the Bay of Bengal will include anti-piracy operations, gun firing, cross-deck helicopter operations and anti-submarine warfare. The war-game seeks to enhance inter-operability, enabling the two navies to undertake maritime security operations in future.

The Indian Navy will be represented by the indigenous built stealth frigate “INS Satpura”, guided missile destroyer the “INS Ranvijay” and missile corvette “INS Kuthar”. From the Japan side, two guided missile destroyers, “JS Ariake” and “JS Setogiri” will participate.

The mock war drill has harbour and sea phases of two days each. The sea phase includes Visit, Board, Search and Seizure drills frequently undertaken during anti-piracy operations and operations in anti-surface, anti-submarine and anti-air threat scenarios.

Although Indian media said that the aim of this exercise is to form a new strategic axis, but in fact, this is not only once the two countries to held joint exercise. During Defence Minister A K Antony’s visit to Tokyo in 2011, India and Japan agreed on holding regular bilateral naval exercises. The maiden exercise was conducted off Japan in January 2012, which is being followed by this exercise off Chennai. And earlier in 2007, the Japanese Self-Defense Force have been involved in international maritime exercise "Marabel-07" hosted by India .

INS Satpura

In addition to conducting exercises at sea, in recent years military cooperation between the two countries is increasing.

According to the newspaper "News of Russia" (Известия), the Indian Army is proposing to buy Japanese- made high- range meteorological radar, fire control systems and photovoltaic systems on ships. Indian Army said that Japan will likely agree to sell their military equipment. If acquisitions are successful, India will install these systems in Ladakh region of Indian- controlled Kashmir.

It is the high and long range realm radar, India will use this system to not only for spying China, Pakistan and Afghanistan near the Himalayan region. This radar system is not only used for scientific research, but also for enhancing the ability to observe missiles of the nations around India, especially China and Pakistan.

Also, according to the "The Times of India", once said, military cooperation relation of the two countries (India and Japan) is continuously developing, in future, all seaports of India will open for Japan's ships, by that the shared strategic geopolitical and military resources between the two countries will be performed, opening up a new strategic axis for encircling China - the increasingly combative nation in the territorial disputes.

Face-offs between Indian, Chinese troops can occur: Antony

NEW DELHI: Not ruling out the possibility of incidents such as face-offs between their troops, defence minister AK Antony said on Monday India and China have now decided to resolve such issues amicably through the existing mechanisms.

On the incident where five Indian nationals were apprehended by Chinese troops inside Indian territory, he said the Indians apprehended by PLA troops were civilians and not Army personnel and the matter was resolved amicably.

"Now our decision is to maintain peace and tranquility. Whenever any incident takes place, that possibility cannot be ruled out as the boundary is very long ... both sides should come together and resolve it amicably," the defence minister said.

He was asked to comment on the situation along the Line of Actual Control in the sidelines of the Vijay Diwas to mark Indian victory in the 1971 war with Pakistan.

On the boundary talks with China, the minister said the country should not "expect miracles" in these parleys.

"Don't expect miracles in resolving the issue. What we are trying is that till a satisfactory solution on boundary issue is found, whenever incidents take place on border, through discussions and official mechanism, resolve those issues. Of late, we have been able to resolve the issues without much delays. That is an improvement," he said.

On the impact of the newly-signed Border Defence Cooperation Agreement, he said, "After the agreement, by and large, whenever any issue arises, we are able to resolve it as quickly as possible. It does not mean that there would not be any issues as long as the India-China border issue is unsettled, there can always be a possibility..."

He said during his and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to China, both the countries had decided to maintain peace and tranquility along the LAC.

"We have been able to take a decision, till we find a peaceful solution to the boundary issue, " he said.

Video: India commemorates 42nd anniversary of its 1971 war victory



Times Of India