India and Japan hold inaugural security talks

NEW DELHI (AP) — India says ties with Japan are key to stability in the Indo-Pacific region as the two countries held inaugural security talks in New Delhi.
Saturday’s talks among the countries’ foreign and defense ministers focused on cooperation in building a free and open Indo-Pacific in view of China’s growing footprint in the region.
The talks took place following a decision by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart, Shinzo Abe, during a summit between the leaders last year.
Japan is only the second country after the U.S. with which India has used the so-called “two-plus-two” dialogue format, which brings the foreign and defense ministers together for talks.