Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday thanked his Japanese counterpart Shinjiro Koizumi for his warm regards and expressed his readiness to further strengthen the deep-rooted defence partnership between India and Japan.
Singh said Koizumi’s message was conveyed to him during the visit of Belgium’s Defence and Foreign Trade Minister Theo Francken to India.
“Thank you for the warm regards, my friend Shinjiro Koizumi! The message was well received, and duly reciprocated during Minister Theo Francken’s highly productive visit to India. Looking forward to further strengthening our deep-rooted partnership during my next visit to Japan,” Singh posted on X.
Singh’s remarks came after Francken conveyed Koizumi’s greetings during his meeting with the Indian Defence Minister in New Delhi on Thursday.
Koizumi later shared a video of the exchange on X and wrote, “When I met Belgium’s Minister Theo Francken in Japan, I told him to please give my best regards to Minister Singh if he went to India. As a result, he ended up using the part where Minister Singh’s account mentioned me. This is also a product of the exchange between ministers. Minister Francken, Minister Rajnath Singh, thank you very much!”
In the video, Francken told Singh, “I am coming from Japan. Minister of Japan Koizumi…, he asked me to give you all the warm greetings and he sent me this morning a message, ‘don’t forget to give all my warm greetings to him’.”
In response, Singh said, “Thank you very much.”
Koizumi was in India last month on an official visit during which he held talks with Singh. Following the meeting, the Japanese Defence Minister said he would devote all his efforts to translating the discussions into concrete outcomes.
“When the meeting concluded, Minister of Defence Singh put his arm around me and expressed his delight, saying, ‘It was a very fruitful meeting.’ We were able to make a new start in accelerating Japan-India defence cooperation. Moving forward, I will devote all my efforts to turning today’s discussions into concrete outcomes in order to further strengthen our personal trust relationship. Minister of Defence Singh, thank you very much,” Koizumi said.
In a joint statement issued after the meeting, the two ministers stressed the importance of sharing assessments of the regional and international security environment amid heightened global tensions.
Recalling the Japan-India Joint Statement issued in July 2026, Singh and Koizumi reaffirmed their commitment to further deepen defence cooperation under their leadership to realise a free and open Indo-Pacific.
The two ministers also agreed to strengthen operational cooperation in maritime security in a practical and effective manner. They reaffirmed their commitment to enhancing maritime security cooperation and signed a Memorandum of Arrangement on Maritime Security Cooperation.
(IANS Inputs)
