NEW DELHI: Defence minister Rajnath Singh held a meeting with his visiting Japanese counterpart Gen Nakatani on Monday, and thanked Japan for its support to India on the terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam.
“I would like to thank the government of Japan for their strong expression of solidarity with India in wake of the Pahalgam terrorist attack. I also take this opportunity to compliment you (Nakatani) for your immense contribution to deepening the Indo-Japan defence relations,” Singh said, according to news agency ANI.
Nakatani is in Delhi for the India-Japan Defence Ministerial Meeting. In his opening statement, he began by expressing his condolences over the Pahalgam attack.
“Terrorism cannot be justified for any reason. We strongly condemn all forms of terrorism,” he was quoted as saying.
The Japanese minister also highlighted that his country is committed to combating terrorism in cooperation with India.
Further, he brought to attention how the two defence ministers are meeting in less than six months from their previous meeting in Laos, in November 2024.
The April 22 terrorist attack in Pahalgam claimed lives of 26 male tourists. In the aftermath of the attack, several world leaders, including Japanese premier Shigeru Ishiba, had spoken with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The long-term friendship between India and Japan was elevated to Special Strategic and Global Partnership in 2014.