Japanese Coast Guard ship to call at Kochi
Kojima embarked on an around-the-world training mission on May 7 from Kure in Hiroshima Prefecture, where Japan's Coast Guard Academy is located.
Japanese Coast Guard ship Kojima, which has been on an around-the-world training voyage since May this year, will dock at the Cochin Port for two days from July 18.
The 3,000-tonne vessel will have a complement of 44 personnel besides 39 cadets (postgraduate trainees) as it arrives as part of a 96-day ‘ocean training cruise’ to familiarise the trainees with other cultures, Coast Guards and the seas.
Kojima, operated by Japan’s Coast Guard Academy and commanded by Captain Tetsushi Mitsuya, embarked on the training mission on May 7 from Kure in the Hiroshima Prefecture, where the academy is located. Its first port call was at San Francisco.
En route, the vessel passed through the Panama Canal and called at New York in the U.S. and Naples in Italy. It transits the Suez Canal before arriving at Kochi. On July 20, it will set out for Singapore. Kojima is slated to return to Kure on August 10.
Official interaction
“Professional interaction between officials and cadets of Indian and Japanese Coast Guards will take place during the vessel’s stay in Kochi. There will be ship visit exchanges, games and formal receptions,” T.K. Satish Chandran, Coast Guard Deputy Inspector General (DIG) and District Commander, told
The Hindu.
Officials of the Japanese Coast Guard will call on Cochin Port Trust chairman Paul Antony and Mayor Tony Chammany.
The Japanese consulate in Chennai is coordinating the visit.
An official said Kojima’s port call was primarily intended to forge working level relations between personnel of both Coast Guards and also to understand each other’s culture and style of functioning better.
Coming as it does in the wake of an emerging strategic alliance between India and Japan especially in military relations, the visit has special significance. Vessels of Indian and Japanese Coast Guards took part in a joint exercise off Kochi in January this year. This was preceded by a high-level meeting between chiefs of both forces in New Delhi.
The Japanese Coast Guard is entrusted with the task of safeguarding its numerous island territories, including the disputed ones, against incursion.
Japanese Coast Guard ship to call at Kochi - The Hindu
Multilateral ties key to easing tensions with China: Japan navy chief
Japan's top naval officer said Monday a multilateral framework such as the ongoing U.S.-led Rim of the Pacific Exercise is vital for easing tensions with China over territorial claims in the East China Sea.
"It is hard for Japan and China to talk bilaterally but maintaining communication on a multilateral basis will stabilize" the situation, Adm. Katsutoshi Kawano, chief of staff of the Maritime Self-Defense Force, said in a press conference.
Kawano was in Hawaii to take a look at RIMPAC, the biennial multinational naval exercises running through Aug. 1 with more than 20 countries, including Japan, taking part. China has joined the world's largest maritime drills for the first time.
Speaking at the joint news conference, Kawano and U.S. Pacific Fleet commander Adm. Harry Harris welcomed China's participation in the exercises this year.
Kawano said it is "unfortunate" that the MSDF and China's navy have no chance to hold drills together. He declined to comment on his impression of the Chinese navy.
Ties between Tokyo and Beijing are strained as the two countries remain at odds over the sovereignty of the Japanese-controlled Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea.
China, which claims the islands and calls them Diaoyu, has become increasingly assertive at sea, frequently sending patrol ships near the uninhabited islets.
Kawano said he believes the MSDF and U.S. Navy will find "new ways of cooperation" in light of the July 1 Cabinet decision to reinterpret the Constitution to enable Japan to exercise the right to collective self-defense, which would allow it to defend an ally such as the United States when it comes under armed attack.
He did not make further comment about the exercise of the right since it is a political issue.
Harris praised Japan's new policy on collective self-defense as an extremely important decision.
Multilateral ties key to easing tensions with China: Japan navy chief | GlobalPost
