Japan and India agreed today to help each other's bids for a place on the UN Security Council.
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has had talks with Indian leaders aimed at building a new partnership.
His trip to India, the first by a Japanese prime minister in five years, came only weeks after a landmark visit by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and is part of Tokyo's "strategic diplomacy" to compete with Beijing.
"They reiterated their support for each other's candidature, based on the firmly shared recognition that Japan and India are legitimate candidates for permanent membership in an expanded Security Council," the two sides said in a joint statement.
China opposes a permanent seat for Japan on the Security Council, and thousands of people went on violent protests in China this month over school textbooks that critics say glosses over Japan's war-time history.
But India and Japan said they would "strengthen their co-operation" to push to make the Security Council "more credible and more effective" and consult "like-minded" nations.
The joint statement also said both countries' navies and coast guard ships would increase co-operation in Asian waters and would work to deepen economic and strategic ties.