By IANS
New Delhi : The Indian and Japanese Coast Guards have decided to ramp up their cooperation in areas like search and rescue and anti-piracy operations.
This was decided during the five-day visit to Japan May 26-31 of Indian Coast Guard chief Vice Admiral R.F. Contractor, a defence ministry statement Friday said.
On arrival in Tokyo, Japanese Coast Guard chief Commandant Hiroki Ishikawa accorded Contractor a very warm welcome, the statement added.
"During his official meetings with his Japanese counterpart and other agencies, various issues such as cooperation in the field of search and rescue, anti-piracy, drugs and arms trafficking, illegal immigration, environmental protection, disaster management and response, boarding operations and training were discussed," the statement said.
Contractor witnessed the Japanese Coast Guard Sea Review at Tokyo, the eighth India-Japan Coast Guard joint exercise at Nagoya, and took the salute of Indian Coast Guard Ship Sagar during the steam past by the vessel.
The Indian and Japanese Coast Guards have been conducting joint exercises every year since 2000, alternately in India and Japan.
Contractor's visit "assumes great significance in the context of the India-Japan strategic and global partnership dialogue initiated during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to Japan in December 2006," the ministry statement said.