NEW DELHI: Japan’s Defence Minister Shinjiro Koizumi on Sunday made a pitch for a Quad defence ministers’ meeting in India, signalling Tokyo’s intent to deepen the grouping’s security agenda beyond the foreign ministers’ level.
Speaking on the sidelines of 23rd IISS Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, Koizumi said, “Recently our Foreign Minister visited India for Quad. It would be great if we could have that for Defence Ministers. Defence cooperation could be an area we can work together…it would be good to visit India to have that kind of dialogue. I want to energise Quad to the next step."
The proposal comes at a time when the Quad is making efforts to be seen as a forum for practical cooperation rather than a military alliance, particularly in the context of Washington recalibrating its ties with Beijing.
China has consistently described the grouping as an “Asian NATO” aimed at containing its rise, a characterisation the four member nations have repeatedly rejected.
India last week hosted the 11th Quad Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in New Delhi, where the four nations launched the Indo-Pacific Maritime Surveillance Collaboration, or IPMSC, a new initiative to coordinate maritime surveillance across the Indo-Pacific.
The IPMSC will use the latest technologies to build on the existing Indo-Pacific Maritime Domain Awareness framework (IPMDA), enabling member countries to share real-time information and get a sharper, more comprehensive picture of vessel movements in the region. The initial focus will be the Indian Ocean Region.
Speaking to the media, MEA’s Additional Secretary Nagraj Naidu addressed concerns about the grouping’s expanding security footprint. “This is the Quad, the Indo-Pacific Maritime Surveillance Cooperation. Surveillance should not be seen as militarisation of the Quad. Neither is IPMDA, the Indo-Pacific Maritime Domain Awareness,” he said.
“The Quad is here to stay, it is going strong, and its work has increased with new layers being added,” Naidu added, noting that Quad foreign ministers had met three times in the past 18 months.
Uncertainty remains over when the Quad Leaders’ Summit will be held. India has chaired the grouping since 2024 and was expected to host the summit, but it is learnt that scheduling conflicts among the leaders of all four countries have so far prevented a date from being fixed.
The Japanese defence minister’s remarks came a day after US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth placed India at the centre of Washington’s Indo-Pacific strategy. “In South Asia, India is a critical anchor to hold the line,” Hegseth said in Singapore on Saturday. “A powerful India acting in its own self-interest advances our shared goal of maintaining a balance of power across the region.”
Hegseth also said India is developing the infrastructure needed to support US Navy vessels operating in the region, describing it as “an immediate operational imperative,” and confirmed that Washington and New Delhi are moving ahead with defence co-production of Javelin anti-tank guided munitions.
Japan’s interest in deeper Quad defence engagement also reflects its own strategic transformation. In April, the government of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi revised Japan’s Three Principles on Transfer of Defence Equipment and Technology, removing restrictions that had limited most military exports to five non-combat categories.
Under the new framework, ministers will assess the merits of each proposed sale, with Japan keeping in place principles that commit it to strict screening, controls on transfers to third countries and a ban on sales to countries involved in conflict. Tokyo sees defence exports as a way to shore up its industrial base, boost production volumes and lower per-unit costs.
Incidentally, in March, the defence ministry had also informed the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence that the Indian Air Force is exploring collaboration with the Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP), a sixth-generation stealth fighter programme being jointly developed by the United Kingdom, Italy and Japan.
The programme aims to develop an advanced combat aircraft supported by unmanned wingmen and networked through a secure combat cloud, with a demonstrator aircraft expected to fly in 2027 and production aircraft entering service from 2035.
Japan’s involvement in GCAP adds a defence-industrial dimension to the India-Japan relationship that extends well beyond maritime security and the Quad framework.
At the Shangri-La Dialogue, the Japanese defence minister also defended his country's military modernisation and rejected Chinese accusations of “new militarism.”
"Think about it. There’s a country that has a huge arsenal of nuclear weapons and strategic bombers. Japan has neither of such weapons, and yet Japan is labelled ‘new militarism’?” he said. He said China is “rapidly expanding its military capabilities across a wide range of areas without sufficient transparency,” while adding that “Japan’s door to dialogue is always open.”