New Delhi, Dec 28 (IANS) India and Japan will launch a defence action plan to firm up their strategic partnership, which includes jointly combating maritime piracy, a Japanese official said here Monday, a day ahead of talks between the leaders of the two countries.
Tokyo also stressed that the India-Japan security partnership is not directed at containing China.

The defence action plan will lay out a framework for deepening security cooperation, Kazuo Kodama, press secretary with Japan’s ministry of foreign affairs, told reporters.

The new security dialogue will be conducted in “2 plus 2 format” that will be headed by junior defence and foreign ministers of the two sides.

The two countries signed a joint declaration on a security cooperation agreement during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to Tokyo last year.

India is the second country after the US with which Japan has signed such an agreement. The action plan is set to give more content and depth to this agreement.

Jointly combating maritime piracy in the Indian Ocean will be a primary focus area of the defence action plan that will be unveiled Tuesday after talks between Manmohan Singh and his Japanese counterpart Yukio Hatoyama.

The two leaders will also review the status of the Economic Cooperation Agreement (EPA) and instruct their negotiators to conclude a mutually acceptable agreement, Kodama said. The two sides have already held 12 rounds of negotiations over EPA, but the proposed pact is stuck in differences over including services in its ambit.

Kodama, however, stressed that the burgeoning security partnership between India and Japan is not directed against China. The promotion of India-Japan partnership should not be at the expense of the third country, Kodama said.