NEW DELHI: Even as Chinese and Russian bombers flew near Japan’s airspace, India sought to play down the perceived provocative action with Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra giving greater weightage to PM Narendra Modi’s crucial visit to Tokyo.
While Japanese Defence Minister Nobuo Kishi had expressed “grave concerns” over the Russian and Chinese flights at a time his country is hosting the Quad meeting, Tokyo scrambled fighter jets to meet any potential contingency.
In contrast, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) remained focused on Modi’s visit, including the developments on the Quad Summit front, with Kwatra making a statement on the common aims and objectives among the bloc’s member states, ranging from shared aims of achieving peace, stability and prosperity in the region and ending all forms of terrorism.
Kwatra’s briefing highlighted the other goals and cooperative endeavours among the Quad nations on the economic and commercial fronts. The Foreign Secretary chose to not delve deep into the perceived provocative joint Chinese and Russian flights, saying only that “the discussion agenda (among the Quad leaders) did include the challenges and opportunities and opportunities in the Indo-Pacific region, but specific action may have formed part of the bilateral talks”.
Prime Minister Modi held bilateral talks with US President Joe Biden, Japanese Premier Fumio Kishida and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Kwatra said. “The leaders did discuss what could be the way forward,” he added. Both Modi and Kishida are said to have concurred on holding the next “2+2 foreign and defence ministerial” meeting in Japan at the earliest.
In Tokyo, Kishi told reporters that two Chinese bombers joined two Russian bombers over the Sea of Japan and made a joint flight to the East China Sea. This, Kishi said, was followed soon after by two new Chinese bombers joining the earlier ones as well as the Russian planes by a “joint flight from the East China Sea to the Pacific Ocean”, Kishi said.
The Japanese political leadership believes that a Russian intelligence gathering aircraft also flew off northern Hokkaido to the Noto Peninsula in central Japan, describing the flights as “provocative” considering the Quad leaders were meeting in Tokyo.