Japan set to sell US-2 plane to India, first sale of hardware used by military

Japan is close to signing an agreement to supply amphibious planes to India, a report said yesterday, in what would be the first sale of hardware used by the military since a weapons export ban was imposed.

During a four-day visit to Tokyo by Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, scheduled to start later yesterday, the two sides are set to firm up plans for Delhi to purchase the US-2, a domestically developed aircraft used by Japan's armed forces.

The sale, reported by the Nikkei business daily, would be the first of a finished product made by Japan's home-grown defence industry since rules were imposed restricting the export of weapons systems and other equipment. It would also mark a strengthening of the alliance between Japan and India, which both see China's rise as a threat to regional stability.

"If Japan and India sign the deal, it would be the first deal of its kind," said Zhou Yongsheng , a professor at the China Foreign Affairs University in Beijing. "The region fears being dominated by a rising China, and the Japanese government has wooed the Indians and other Asian countries with military and economic enticements to get them to co-operate with the Japanese to contain China's rise."

Experts say the aircraft must be classified for civilian use if it is to comply with Japan's 1967 ban on arms exports, part of the post-war anti-militarist drive.