Japan seeks stronger security ties, saying ‘global order’ under strain

S Jaishankar and Japan foreign minister Yoshimasa Hayashi’s discussions featured China and Ukraine prominently

- Sachin Parashar

New Delhi: China and the Ukraine situation figured prominently in the second India-Japan 2+2 ministerial dialogue which took place in Tokyo in the middle of, as foreign minister S Jaishankar said, a complicated global environment. Japan called for stepping up security and defence cooperation with India, while slamming China for unilateral attempts to change the status quo in East and South China Seas and Russia for its “invasion” of Ukraine.

The two sides reaffirmed in a joint statement, which did not specifically name Russia or China, their commitment to a rules-based global order that respects sovereignty and territorial integrity, and emphasised the need for all to seek peaceful resolution of disputes in accordance with international law without resorting to threat or use of force.