TOKYO (AP)  -- Japan and India are discussing ways to strengthen their military cooperation amid rising tension in the Asian region.

Indian Defense Minister Arun Jaitley told his Japanese counterpart, Tomomi Inada, in Tokyo on Monday that his county hopes to pursue a strategic partnership with Japan for regional peace and stability.

His visit comes at a time of rising tension in the region, including territorial rows in the South China Sea and nuclear and missile threats from North Korea. 

Jaitley welcomed a planned trilateral naval exercise among the U.S., India and Japan in July as a way of strengthening cooperation in the Asia-Pacific. 

Jaitley, who is also India's finance minister, visited Japan to attend an annual meeting of the Asian Development Bank that ended Sunday.