India, March 7 -- India and Japan on Thursday agreed on the need for new steps to prepare the bilateral relationship to respond to emerging geopolitical and geo-economic trends as external affairs minister S Jaishankar and his Japanese counterpart Yoko Kamikawa held talks in Tokyo.

The two sides have made good progress in defence and security ties, Jaishankar told a media interaction, noting that the Indian Army is currently conducting a joint exercise with Japan's Self-Defense Force in Rajasthan. The three services and the Coast Guard of the two countries are engaging with greater ease through a new arrangement on reciprocal access to logistics, he said.

"We agreed on the need for new steps...to make this relationship prepared for, and...