The Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) and the Indian Air Force (IAF) have started their first bilateral fighter jet training in Japan, marking a milestone in the two countries' defense and security relations.

In a statement, the Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) affirmed that the drills are being held at the military bases of the Air Rescue Wing Hyakuri Detachment in the Japanese prefecture of Ibaraki, as well as the Iruma air base in Saitama Prefecture.

The exercises will involve four Japanese Mitsubishi F-2 jets and four US McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle tactical fighters, as per the statement.

India has provided 150 military troops, four Russian Sukhoi Su-30MKI multirole air fighters, and two US Boeing C-17 Globemaster III big transport aircraft, it added.

According to the Japanese military, the first-ever joint air combat training, called Veer Guardian 2023, will run from January 16 to 26.

During the inaugural 2+2 Foreign and Defense Ministerial meeting in New Delhi in November 2019, the two countries decided to go forward with coordination for their first bilateral joint fighter aircraft exercise in Japan. However, it was postponed because of the COVID-19 epidemic.

Japan and India are half of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, an alliance of four large democracies (Quad).

The Quad, formally known as the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, began as a loose partnership following the devastating 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, when the four countries "banded together to provide humanitarian and disaster assistance to the affected region."

The group was resurrected in 2017, reflecting shifting regional attitudes toward "China's growing influence." Both the Trump and Biden administrations saw the Quad as critical to refocusing attention on the Indo-Pacific region, particularly as a counterweight to China's assertive actions. The Quad leaders met virtually in March after their first formal summit in 2021.

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China responds to US, Japan's increasingly anti-Beijing alliance

This is happening as Japan’s alliance with the United States further fueled tensions in the Asia-Pacific region amid China’s warnings.

China has recently reacted after the United States and Japan vowed to solidify their alliance against Beijing, which they identified as a mutual "threat".

The Chinese Foreign Ministry's spokesperson, Wang Wenbin, two days after the senior American and Japanese foreign and defense officials met in Washington, called China's growing power the "greatest strategic challenge" in the Indo-Pacific region and beyond. 

"The Asia-Pacific is an anchor for peace and development, not a wrestling ground for geopolitics. We Asia-Pacific countries support justice and cooperation and oppose hegemonism and confrontation," the spokesperson said.

Wang urged the United States and Japan "to abandon the Cold War mentality and ideological bias, stop creating imaginary enemies...and refrain from becoming countercurrents that destabilize the stability of the Asia-Pacific region."

Read more: Japan, US facing most challenging security in recent history: Kishida