A High-Level Meeting between Indian Coast Guard (ICG) and Japan Coast Guard (JCG) was held at Coast Guard Headquarters, New Delhi on January 15, 2018, under the provisions of the Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) signed between the two agencies in 2006.
The Indian delegation was led by ICG Director General Rajendra Singh while KCG was led by its Commandant Admiral Satoshi Nakajima in the meeting. The meeting was based on augmenting the operational level interaction and capacity building in areas of search and rescue, pollution response and maritime law enforcement.
Relations between the two Coast Guards go back a long way with ICG ships calling on ports in Japan for professional interactions since 2000. This meeting and visit are in continuation of the efforts by the governments of the two countries to enhance cooperation between the two Coast Guards in the field of maritime safety and security at sea.
The meeting resulted in both sides agreeing to strengthen the mutual cooperation in accordance with the provisions of the MoC. They also decided to share the best management practices and continue the exchange of personnel.
Japan Coast Guard Ship Tsugaru has arrived at Chennai on January 12 for participating in the joint exercise that is scheduled on January 17. Both the DG ICG and the Commander JCG will be traveling to Chennai to oversee the joint exercise.
The meeting was significant in providing added impetus to the already existing professional relationship between the Coast Guards of India and Japan.
