Japan, India Boost Defense Ties With First Joint Air Combat Drill

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Japan and India on Jan. 12 launched their first joint air combat drill in a move to bolster their military alliance amid the security challenges posed by the Chinese communist regime in the Indo-Pacific region.

Japan deployed four F-2 and four F-15 fighters to participate in the Veer Guardian 2023 joint drill, while India sent four Su-30 MKI fighters, two C-17 transport aircraft, and one IL-78 refueling tanker.

The joint exercise, which runs from Jan. 12 to Jan. 26 via Japan’s Hyakuri Air Base, involves multi-domain air combat missions and expertise exchanges on various operational aspects, according to India’s Defense Ministry.

“This exercise will thus be another step in deepening strategic ties and close defense cooperation between the two countries,” the ministry said in a statement.

Both sides agreed to the joint air combat exercise in November 2019, but it was later delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic, Kyodo News reported. This is the first time India and Japan have held a joint fighter jet drill, following a previous drill with ground and maritime forces.

Japan’s New National Security Strategy

The joint drill followed Japan’s new National Security Strategy released last month, which states that Japan will promote joint development of defense equipment and training with “like-minded countries and others in the Indo-Pacific region.”

“Japan will strive to make the vision of a [Free and Open Indo-Pacific] more universal around the world, create rules to expand the free and fair economic zone, improve connectivity, empower governance of countries and international organizations, and expand efforts to ensure maritime security,” it states.

“While utilizing frameworks such as the Japan-U.S.-[South Korea], and Japan-U.S.-Australia, Japan will enhance security cooperation with Australia, India, [South Korea], European countries, ASEAN countries, Canada, NATO, EU, and others,” the document reads.

Japan and India are also part of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, or the Quad, which is an informal strategic grouping composed of the United States, Australia, India, and Japan.

Beijing Threat

Members of the Quad have increased defense cooperation due to growing concerns over the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) military assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific region, with Japan describing the CCP as its “greatest threat” to national security.

Japan is concerned about its own vulnerability as the CCP expands its military presence near Taiwan and the East China Sea, where the Japanese-controlled Senkaku Islands are located. The regime in Beijing has not ruled out using force to bring Taiwan under its control.

A Navy Force helicopter under the Eastern Theatre Command of China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) takes part in military exercises in the waters around Taiwan, at an undisclosed location, on Aug. 8, 2022, in a handout picture released on Aug. 9, 2022. (Eastern Theatre Command/Handout via Reuters)

The Japanese government seeks to have the ability to counterattack, a move widely seen as a departure from the nation’s post-war constitution. It signed a defense agreement with the British government on Jan. 11 to allow the two countries to deploy military forces in one another’s territories, making the U.K. the first European country to have a reciprocal access agreement with Japan.

Relations between India and the CCP have also been strained due to recent border disputes. On Dec. 9, 2022, Indian and Chinese troops clashed along the disputed Himalayan border, which resulted in minor injuries on both sides.

Defense Minister Rajnath Singh said that Indian troops prevented Chinese soldiers from crossing the line of actual control (LAC) at the Tawang Sector in India’s northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh, a territory that China claims as its own.

This is the latest clash between the two armies since an incident on June 15, 2020, in eastern Ladakh that killed 20 Indian soldiers and 40 Chinese soldiers. The CCP claimed only four died in that conflict, but Indian and Russian sources refuted these figures.

Alexander Zhang and Venus Upadhayaya contributed to this report.