Introduction
India and Japan are two prominent countries in today’s world. Their mutual importance is primarily accentuated due to their economic prowess, as Japan is the 3rd and India being the 5th largest economy in the world.[2] Japan is a member of G-20, G-7, and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), while India is only a member of the G-20.[3] However, a large part of their economic wherewithal lies in their defence industry which is gaining momentum and is likely to further in the foreseeable future. It is equally notable that the enduring relevance of geopolitics in the Indo-Pacific region is also responsible for the enhanced collaboration of research and development in the defence sector. Likewise, both states are engaged in a significant level of bilateral collaboration and cooperation, especially in the defence industry.
Currently, according to the International Institute of Strategic Studies (IISS), Japan is spending around 50 billion USD on defence.[4] Whilst, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) estimated that India has allocated almost 80 billion USD to be spent on defence.[5] It is worthy to note here that so far both states have signed 12 major agreements which one way or the other strengthen their mutual defence industry and technology. The defence cooperation between the two goes back to early 1980s when the Japanese economy was at its zenith being the 2nd largest in the world and they signed the Agreement on Cooperation in the field of Science and Technology in 1985.[6]
