(This story originally appeared in on Mar 31, 2015)

NEW DELHI: India and Japan are setting the stage for reciprocal exchange of shipping information and data in the Indian Ocean and South China Sea , even as they bolster their bilateral strategic partnership and maritime cooperation with an eye firmly on China.While the annual defence dialogue (AAD) between defence minister Manohar Parrikar and his Japanese counterpart Gen Nakatani in Tokyo on Monday took a slew of decisions to strengthen defence ties, sources said the two sides also discussed the proposed exchange of maritime information."India can provide Japan with 'white shipping data' about Indian Ocean, where we have the resources to monitor things. Japan, in turn, can give us information about South China Sea, where we have some strategic interests. India and Vietnam, for instance, are working on joint oil exploration in the South China Sea" said a source.India is trying to tie up with as many as 24 countries — from the African east coast to South China Sea — for exchanging shipping data under its overall national maritime domain awareness (NMDA) project to strengthen security both from conventional as well as unconventional threats.While the exchange of data would deal primarily with merchant shipping, both India and Japan remain worried about China's expanding trans-border military capabilities as well as its assertive behaviour in the Asia-Pacific region, especially in the contentious South and East China Seas where it is embroiled in territorial disputes with its neighbours.Japanese PM Shinzo Abe , who shares a personal rapport with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi, in fact told Parrikar that "a strong" India-Japan partnership was not only in the "national interest of the two" but also "important for peace and security in the region".Holding that India attaches great importance to strengthening bilateral security cooperation with Japan, Parrikar in turn told Abe that he would like "a strong partnership" in defence equipment and technology.But as earlier reported by TOI, India's interest in Japan's Soryu diesel-electric submarines for the over Rs 50,000 crore project to domestically make six stealth submarines may not lead to anything concrete. With no experience of hawking its military wares, Japan will find it difficult to compete with Russia, France, Germany and others in the fray.Conversely, the proposed purchase of at least 12 Japanese US-2i amphibious aircraft for the Indian Navy for around $1.3 billion - the Coast Guard also wants five such planes - will be more of a direct government-to-government deal. But the problem in this project is that it will be economically and technically unviable to make only 17 such planes under the Modi government's 'Make in India' policy.