India to assist in training of Japan’s counter-terror unit

Building on closer strategic linkages, as reflected during Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s visit to Delhi, India has offered full support to bolster the capabilities of Japan’s newly-created intelligence unit, including training one of its officers who will be posted in Delhi.

Japan launched its counter-terrorism unit on December 8.
Japanese officers are also being posted in Amman, Cairo and Jakarta. India will offer training facilities to Japan’s counter-terror officers. Assuring support to Japan in contributing to security arrangements during the G-7 summit, which is scheduled to take place at Kashiko Island in Japan’s Mie Prefecture in May 2016, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is understood to have conveyed to his Japanese counterpart India’s readiness to provide all possible help to Japan.

During Mr Abe’s three day visit to India that ended December 13, the two countries agreed to work on enhancing counter-terrorism cooperation, said reliable sources.
Japan has not been a victim of terror on its soil for many years. It has limited counter-terror capabilities and has not played any significant role in global counter-terror initiatives so far either. However, Japanese nationals have been targeted recently in certain countries in Asia by Islamic State and other extremist groups, according to certain reports. Japanese nationals are stationed in various countries, from peaceful zones to terrorism hotspots, owing to the country’s huge economic presence and therefore face security risk.

Three Japanese women were killed in a terror strike in a museum in Tunisia in March and one Japanese citizen was killed in Bangladesh in October. The incidents influenced the Japanese government to launch a counterterrorism intelligence unit on December 8.

In the aftermath of the terror strikes in Paris on November 13, just days ahead of the COP-21 summit, Japan has been concerned about ensuring security at multilateral summits. The rise of terrorism internationally has raised concerns in the security establishment of Japan. Japan could also be looking at Malaysia and Turkey’s security arrangements made for multilateral summits hosted recently.

Tokyo’s security establishment has also started focusing on risks of homegrown terrorism and the potential threat of the Islamic State. The Japanese government aims to strengthen counter-terror capabilities and to step up cooperation with the intelligence organs of other friendly countries, including India.

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