The Indo-Japanese ACSA

Visiting Japan in late October 2018, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe to ratify an Acquisition and Cross Servicing Agreement (ACSA) between the two Defence forces. Japan’s ambassador to India, Kenji Hiramatsu, said it was only natural for the two militaries to have a logisticssharing agreement because of the large number of exercises they were carrying out each year. “We hope to start formal negotiations with regard to signing of the ACSA. It is high time we had mutual logistics support,” he urged.

Under such a pact, Japanese ships would get access to fuel and servicing at major Indian naval bases including the Andaman and Nicobar islands, which lie near the Malacca Straits through which a large amount of Japan’s but also China’s trade and fuel supplies are shipped. India’s Navy, which is increasingly sending ships further east as a way to counter China’s expanding presence in the Indian Ocean, would get access to Japanese facilities for maintenance support.