The India-Japan Maritime Security MoA: Consolidating an Indo-Pacific Partnership

India and Japan have signed a new maritime security arrangement aimed at deepening naval cooperation across the Indo-Pacific. The pact expands work on logistics, port access, mine countermeasures, ship repair and protection of key shipping routes.

On 20 August 2026, at the Manekshaw Centre in New Delhi, Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and his Japanese counterpart Shinjiro Koizumi signed a Memorandum of Arrangement (MoA) on Maritime Security Cooperation. The agreement, concluded on the sidelines of the India-Japan Defence Ministers’ Meeting, provides a structured framework for the Indian Navy (IN) and the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) to deepen operational and logistical cooperation at sea. The agreement comes at a moment of uncertainty about the Indo-Pacific and the Quad; and involves a maritime domain wherein China’s military assertiveness is growing.

Building on an Established Architecture

The MoA does not emerge in a vacuum. It is the latest layer on a defence relationship built up over nearly two decades starting from the foundational document; the 2008 Joint Declaration on Security Cooperation. This was supplemented by the 2014 Memorandum of Defence Cooperation and Exchanges and reinforced by the 2014 Tokyo Declaration for a Special Strategic and Global Partnership. These instruments established the strong base of an effective security architecture that has anchored the relationship. This security architecture has continuously been enhanced by a series of ‘decisive points’ that bodes well for any well-planned relationship. Apart from the Annual Defence Ministerial Dialogue these include the 2 2 Foreign and Defence Ministerial Meeting, the Defence Policy Dialogue (the eighth round was held in Tokyo in July 2026), a National Security Advisers’ dialogue, service-to-service staff talks, and Coast Guard-to-Coast Guard meetings.

Two pillars in particular gain new depth from this MoA. First, is the 2020 Acquisition and Cross-Servicing Agreement (ACSA), which allows the two militaries........

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