Japan, India launch joint counterterrorism drills

Japan's Ground Self-Defence Force (GSDF) has begun a joint counterterrorism exercise with the Indian Army in the country’s western area as part of Tokyo's efforts to deepen defence ties with New Delhi amid China's military rise, per Japan Today.

With about 230 Japanese and Indian participants, the exercise in the Aibano Training Area in Shiga Prefecture, scheduled through March 2, simulates combat against terrorists in urban locations, according to the GSDF.

It is the first time that the bilateral training exercise is being held in Japan. The annual exercises, initiated in 2018, were previously conducted in India, apart from 2020 when the drill was cancelled due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.

Japan and India have been stepping up defence cooperation in recent years amid China's rapid military buildup.

Japan's Air Self-Defense Force and the Indian Air Force held their first-ever joint fighter jet drill near Tokyo last month, while the Maritime Self-Defence Force has conducted exercises with the Indian Navy since 2012.

Japan and India are members of the Quad security grouping, also involving the United States and Australia, aimed at countering China's increasing military and economic clout in the Indo-Pacific region.

Tokyo and Beijing are at odds over the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea, with Chinese coast guard vessels repeatedly entering Japanese waters around the islets that Beijing claims and calls Diaoyu.

Military tensions between New Delhi and Beijing have continued since a June 2020 clash in a Himalayan border area in which Indian and Chinese soldiers were reportedly killed, the first deadly incident since 1975.