Tokyo is arranging with New Delhi an upgrade in security talks involving vice foreign and defense ministers to a ministerial-level dialogue in light of China's growing influence in the Asia-Pacific region and the Indian Ocean, government sources said Tuesday.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is eager to agree with his Indian counterpart, Narendra Modi, on the upgrading of the so-called two-plus-two dialogue during his trip to the South Asian nation which started Wednesday, government sources told Kyodo News.
Tokyo put forward a similar proposal in 2014, but it did not come to fruition as New Delhi opted to avoid irritating Beijing, a diplomatic source said.