Japanese airmen who travelled to India for the bilateral combat exercise ‘Veer Guardian 2026’ lauded Indian Air Force personnel for being “approachable”, while sharing details of their combat exercise drill and stay in India.
The bilateral Air Exercise between the IAF and JASDF is underway at the Air Force Station in Jodhpur, and will continue till September 22.
“We interviewed members of the Tsuiki Air Base who are currently training in India, so here’s a selection of their responses!” they said in a post on X. Asked about the training at the site, the Japanese personnel said they could “feel their skills steadily improving. “It was my first time experiencing it in its home country, but my body was so stiff that I couldn’t even do the standard poses,” one of them said.
The Japanese contingent was also asked about Indian curry, and whether it was “as delicious as expected. “The real deal really is different.
It’s super delicious,” they said. Japanese defence minister Shinjirō Koizumi had, in a post on X, said the JASDF aircraft were visiting India for the first time. “Following the Indian Air Force’s first visit to Japan with its fighter aircraft three years ago, this marks the realization of mutual visits by fighter aircraft,” Koizumi stated. He said that in a meeting with Union defence minister Rajnath Singh in August, Koizumi said both had “shared the recognition that this training is an important initiative symbolizing the deepening of Japan-India defense cooperation. Rajnath Singh, replying to Koizumi’s post on X, said Tokyo sending its fighter aircraft to participate in ‘Veer Guardian’ was a “significant milestone” for the India- Japan defence partnership.
