PM Narendra Modi appreciates Japan for offering amphibian aircraft

Tokyo: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday appreciated Japan for expressing its readiness to offer its state-of-the-art US-2 amphibian aircraft to India for defence purposes.

"Prime Minister Modi conveyed his appreciation for Japan`s readiness to provide its state-of-the-art defence platforms such as US-2 amphibian aircraft," a joint statement issued after the annual bilateral summit co-chaired by Modi and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said.

"It symbolises the high degree of trust between the two countries and the distance that Japan and India have covered in advancing their bilateral defence exchanges," it stated.

The US-2 is a large Japanese short take-off and landing (STOL) amphibious aircraft designed for air-sea rescue (SAR) work.

Briefing the media here later, Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar said India was still "in the process of evaluating our requirement" for this aircraft.