Moscow, April 18 (IANS) Russia lodged a strong protest with Japan over Tokyo’s plan to conduct anti-ship missile drills near Russia’s borders, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Russia lodged a protest with the Japanese Embassy in Moscow over Japan’s plans to hold training exercises with the SSM-1 anti-ship missile systems, equipped with the Type-88 missiles on the Hokkaido Island near the Russian border in June, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Thursday in a statement.
It said that Moscow considers such “provocative” military activity near Russia’s borders “a potential threat to its national security,” adding that Tokyo’s actions heighten tensions in Northeast Asia and the Asia-Pacific region, Xinhua news agency reported.
“Russia reserves the right to take all necessary countermeasures” to ensure its security on its Far Eastern borders, the Foreign Ministry warned.
Earlier reports indicated that Japan’s Self-Defense Forces are planning to conduct live-fire training exercises using anti-ship missiles at the Shizunai range in Hokkaido, a region bordering Russia, this summer.
The exercise will utilise Type 88 surface-to-ship missiles.
While Japan previously conducted similar drills beyond the national boarders due to the missile’s range — nearly 150 km or more — which might endanger safety on the sea and in airspace, it has now decided to hold exercises within Japanese territory with specific range restrictions.
The Shizunai range, situated on Hokkaido’s southern coast overlooking the Pacific Ocean, will host the drills.
Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi has confirmed that preparations for these exercises are underway.
Russian and Chinese warships recently held joint drills in the Sea of Japan, part of a major naval exercise that Russian President Vladimir Putin said was the largest of its kind in three decades.
Then last week, a Chinese aircraft carrier sailed between two Japanese islands near Taiwan for the first time.
Japan called that incident “totally unacceptable from the perspective of the security environment of Japan and the region”.
In 2023, an aircraft believed but not confirmed to be Russian entered Japanese airspace, according to the Japanese Defence Minister Minoru Kihara.
–IANS
int/khz
Disclaimer
The information contained in this website is for general information purposes only. The information is provided by BhaskarLive.in and while we endeavour to keep the information up to date and correct, we make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to the website or the information, products, services, or related graphics contained on the website for any purpose. Any reliance you place on such information is therefore strictly at your own risk.
In no event will we be liable for any loss or damage including without limitation, indirect or consequential loss or damage, or any loss or damage whatsoever arising from loss of data or profits arising out of, or in connection with, the use of this website.
Through this website you are able to link to other websites which are not under the control of BhaskarLive.in We have no control over the nature, content and availability of those sites. The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.
Every effort is made to keep the website up and running smoothly. However, BhaskarLive.in takes no responsibility for, and will not be liable for, the website being temporarily unavailable due to technical issues beyond our control.
For any legal details or query please visit original source link given with news or click on Go to Source.
Our translation service aims to offer the most accurate translation possible and we rarely experience any issues with news post. However, as the translation is carried out by third part tool there is a possibility for error to cause the occasional inaccuracy. We therefore require you to accept this disclaimer before confirming any translation news with us.
If you are not willing to accept this disclaimer then we recommend reading news post in its original language.
