Taipei proposed an 18 per cent increase in its defence spending to counter regional threats, as New Delhi and Tokyo established a new framework for maritime domain awareness and search operations.
Presenting the budget, Premier Cho Jung-tai said defence comes to 1.1225 trillion Taiwan dollars in the 2027 plan, equal to 3.01 per cent of projected national income for next year. Defence passes 1 trillion Taiwan dollars for the first time and covers 691.9 billion Taiwan dollars of Ministry of National Defence spending as well as military retirement benefits and the Coast Guard Administration.[1]
The central government budget totals 3.9266 trillion Taiwan dollars, with revenue and expenditure balanced. President Lai has set a goal of holding defence spending above 3 per cent of national income and raising it to 5 per cent by 2030. The text goes to the Legislative Yuan for review by the end of the month; the opposition-controlled chamber passed this year's budget only after months of delay.[1]
In New Delhi the two sides signed a Memorandum of Arrangement on Maritime Security Cooperation establishing information-sharing on Maritime Domain Awareness, search and rescue, and humanitarian assistance and disaster relief; Koizumi said, I will devote all my efforts to turning today's discussions into concrete outcomes. Thursdays Modi-Koizumi meeting kept up the defence tempo set by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichis July 2026 visit for the sixteenth Annual Summit and covered Indo-Pacific security, freedom of navigation and a shared line against unilateral acts under the Special Strategic and Global Partnership.[2]
