Saturday, May 27 2006 10:34 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Tokyo: India yesterday (May 26, 2006) said a main objective of its defence cooperation with Japan was to ensure security of maritime trade in Indian Ocean region and the Malcca Straits in view of growing concentration of lethal weapons in the hands of non-state actors.

The two countries decided to enhance cooperation to tackle transnational crimes at sea like piracy, armed robbery, trafficking of illegal migration, arms and drugs.

Addressing a press conference at the National Press Centre on the second day of his visit to Japan, he said the defence cooperation will be immensely beneficial to both the countries.

"The security environment has changed after 9/11. Cross border terrorism has assumed much more importance in the context of security. Also, the security of maritime trade, security of sea lanes which carry major energy sources and the growing concentration of lethal weapons at the hands of non-state actors require the collective intervention of the world community who have interest in peace and stability of the world", Mukherjee said.

"Therefore, I do feel it is necessary to have defence cooperation among the peace-loving countries all over the world including our region.

"Japan is an important collaborator of India in our economic and trade activities. Therefore, we do feel, in order to ensure the maritime security in the Indian Ocean, Malacca Straits cooperation between India and Japan will be helpful, he said.

On a question why India is modernising its defence forces in a big way, Mukherjee said that "Our defence policy is entirely oriented towards 'self-preservation and self-protection.'

He said it is true that "We are modernizing our armed forces but it is equally true that the defence spending in terms of per centage of our total GDP is well below 3 per cent."

Mukherjee strongly defended the Indo-US civilian nuclear agreement, saying "we require energy to ensure our rapid development. India is currently having GDP growth rate of 8 per cent at present. We must sustain the GDP growth rate at the level of 8-10 per cent for a number of years and for that we require energy.

"That is the rationale of our entering into an arrangement with the United States and I do hope that the arrangement will get the ratification of the US Congress and after that Nuclear Supply Groups will also recognize and help India to have access to technology, materials and equipment," he said.

He said, so far as non-proliferation is concerned, though India is not a signatory to the NPT, yet it has accepted most of the obligations under NPT voluntarily.

Regarding his forthcoming visit to China beginning Sunday, he said, "Surely we will exchange our views about our respective perceptions on different issues concerning our mutual interest. But we have established a regular mechanism through the institutions of special envoys appointed by both countries who are discussing the unresolved border issues.

Those talks are going on satisfactorily."

"We firmly believe that as we have to live with our neighbours, it is desirable that we should live in peace and our entire policy is directed towards that. We try to resolve the outstanding issues amongst nations through dialogue, debate and discussions," Mukherjee said.

On being asked about Indo-Pak ties, he said although the two sides have not been able to resolve all outstanding issues between the two countries, there have been certain positive developments.

"We are engaged in a constructive composite dialogue with Pakistan. The ceasefire is continuing on the border since November 2003 and both sides in their bilateral talks have reaffirmed the continuation of the ceasefire. We have also been able to build up person to person contact on both sides of the border," he said.

Mukherjee also mentioned that the Indian armed forces played a distinct role in sending relief material to Pakistan in the aftermath of the devastating earthquake in October 2005.

India and Japan also agreed to cooperate in search and rescue operations and protection of marine environment. The decisions were taken at the meeting between the visiting Defence Minister Mukherjee and Japanese Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, Kazuo Kitagawa here today.

To give effect to these objectives, the two ministers also announced some concrete measures such as holding of annual Coast Guards' Talks, regular exchange of visits, exchange of Coast Guard ship visits, holding of combined exercises for anti-piracy, search and rescue, disaster relief and other areas of mutual interest.