AGL 38.30 Increased By ▲ 0.30 (0.79%)
AIRLINK 132.50 Decreased By ▼ -4.19 (-3.07%)
BOP 5.38 Decreased By ▼ -0.04 (-0.74%)
CNERGY 3.78 Decreased By ▼ -0.05 (-1.31%)
DCL 7.46 Decreased By ▼ -0.13 (-1.71%)
DFML 43.40 Decreased By ▼ -2.65 (-5.75%)
DGKC 79.60 Decreased By ▼ -0.75 (-0.93%)
FCCL 27.99 Decreased By ▼ -0.04 (-0.14%)
FFBL 53.99 Decreased By ▼ -1.22 (-2.21%)
FFL 8.52 Decreased By ▼ -0.06 (-0.7%)
HUBC 101.46 Decreased By ▼ -11.19 (-9.93%)
HUMNL 12.25 Decreased By ▼ -0.08 (-0.65%)
KEL 3.79 Decreased By ▼ -0.06 (-1.56%)
KOSM 7.02 Decreased By ▼ -1.05 (-13.01%)
MLCF 35.50 Increased By ▲ 0.39 (1.11%)
NBP 66.40 Increased By ▲ 0.40 (0.61%)
OGDC 169.50 Decreased By ▼ -1.66 (-0.97%)
PAEL 25.19 Increased By ▲ 0.01 (0.04%)
PIBTL 6.17 Decreased By ▼ -0.03 (-0.48%)
PPL 131.30 Decreased By ▼ -1.55 (-1.17%)
PRL 24.19 Decreased By ▼ -0.21 (-0.86%)
PTC 14.15 Decreased By ▼ -0.37 (-2.55%)
SEARL 57.76 Decreased By ▼ -1.19 (-2.02%)
TELE 7.00 Decreased By ▼ -0.09 (-1.27%)
TOMCL 34.52 Decreased By ▼ -0.48 (-1.37%)
TPLP 7.86 Decreased By ▼ -0.23 (-2.84%)
TREET 14.04 Decreased By ▼ -0.26 (-1.82%)
TRG 44.70 Decreased By ▼ -0.89 (-1.95%)
UNITY 25.50 Decreased By ▼ -0.49 (-1.89%)
WTL 1.18 Decreased By ▼ -0.02 (-1.67%)
BR100 8,993 Decreased By -91.6 (-1.01%)
BR30 26,948 Decreased By -683 (-2.47%)
KSE100 84,905 Decreased By -548.5 (-0.64%)
KSE30 26,944 Decreased By -204.9 (-0.75%)

japan-flag copy copyTOKYO: Japan is set to boost the number of military personnel, Defence Minister Itsunori Onodera said on Sunday, as the new government led by the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) tackles a territorial spat with China over East China Sea islets.

 

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe led the LDP to a landslide election victory last month, promising to beef up the military and stand tough in the dispute over tiny, uninhabited islands, called Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China.

 

The number of personnel, now standing at about 225,000, will increase by 287 in the next fiscal year starting in April, Onodera told reporters after meeting Finance Minister Taro Aso for the final budgetary negotiations.

 

Onodera said the increase was the biggest in two decades. The figure represents an expansion of about 0.1 percent.

 

"This would allow us to firmly reinforce our surveillance activities in the southwest," Onodera said.

 

The disputed islets are located to the southwest of Japan's main islands, where two countries share a maritime border.

 

Both China and Japan sought to cool down tensions in the row last week, with Chinese Communist Party chief Xi Jinping telling an envoy from Abe that he was committed to developing bilateral ties.

 

Onodera also said that the defence budget will grow 40 billion yen ($440 million), or about 0.8 percent, in the year from April, posting positive growth for the first time in 11 years.

 

A small budget rise had been expected as the LDP campaigned in December's lower house election on pledges to boost defence spending. The Defence Ministry this month requested an annual increase of about 100 billion yen in its budget.

 

 

Copyright Reuters, 2010

 

Comments

Comments are closed.