Modi, Abe review progress in ties ahead of Malabar exercise
8 July 2017 5:30 PM GMT
Prime Minister Narendra Modi met his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe on the sidelines of the G20 Summit and reviewed progress in bilateral ties as the two nations geared up for the Malabar naval exercise amid China's growing military assertiveness in the disputed South and East China seas.
The meeting between the two leaders comes months after the two nations inked a civil nuclear cooperation agreement.
"The two leaders briefly reviewed progress in bilateral relations, including in important projects, since their last meeting in Japan during Prime Minister's visit in November 2016," a statement said.
Prime Minister Modi also expressed satisfaction at developments in bilateral relations since then. "The Prime Minister said that he looked forward to Prime Minister Abe's forthcoming visit to India for the next Annual Summit and hoped that it would further strengthen their cooperation," the statement added. The Malabar naval exercise involving Indian, American and Japanese navies will kick start on July 10 in the
Bay of Bengal. A sizeable number of aircraft, naval ships and nuclear submarines of the navies of the three countries will be part of the annual exercise, considered a major war game in the region. The exercise is taking place in the backdrop of a major military standoff between armies of India and China in the Sikkim section and Beijing ramping up its naval presence in the South China Sea.
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