Japanese Defence Minister meets PM Narendra Modi

NEW DELHI: Japanese Defence Minister Gen Nakatani today met Prime Minister Narendra Modi here and briefed him on regional developments in East and Southeast Asia.

His visit comes just days after a recent ruling by a UN-backed tribunal which said that China has no legal basis to claim "historic rights" to islands in South China Sea.

During the call on, Modi condoled the loss of life of Japanese citizens in the terror attack in Dhaka earlier this month and called for greater bilateral and multilateral cooperation against terrorism, a PMO statement said.

Nakatani briefed the Prime Minister on the bilateral defence cooperation initiatives, it said.

The Japanese Minister also briefed the Prime Minister on regional developments in East and Southeast Asia, the statement said.

Modi welcomed Japanese participation at the International Fleet Review in Vishakhapatnam in February this year and and in the Malabar Exercise off the Japanese coast last month.

Modi said that he is looking forward to his visit to Japan later this year for the Annual Summit.