India and Japan will use the first-ever strategic dialogue at the foreign minister's level in Tokyo to follow up certain actions and programmes in their emerging strategic relations, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said on Thursday.

"It is a bilateral visit. After the visit to Japan by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in December 2006, our bilateral relations were raised to strategic partnership," Mukherjee told PTI on his arrival in Tokyo for a four-day official visit.

"Naturally, we would like to follow-up certain actions and programmes which were taken up during the Prime Minister's visit," he said ahead of his meetings with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and the strategic dialogue with Japanese Foreign Minister, Taro Aso and others.

Official sources said the strategic dialogue will help the two major Asian powers prepare a roadmap for firming up their nascent strategic relations.

During the dialogue, both ministers will exchange views on ways to further strengthen bilateral relations, as well as on direction of the cooperation between the two countries towards regional and international issues, Japanese foreign ministry sources said.

The decision to establish strategic dialogue mechanism was taken during the successful visit of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to Tokyo in December last year.

Mukherjee is visiting Japan for the second time in less than a year. In May, 2006, Mukherjee, then defence minister, had paid an important visit to Japan.

Mukherjee's visit also comes 10 days after Aso made positive comments on a democratic India's growing role in creating an 'arc of freedom and prosperity'.

In a major foreign policy speech on March 12, the Japanese Foreign Minister noted that there was ample scope for Tokyo and New Delhi to step up their cooperation.

"And as for India, popularly referred to as the largest democracy in the world, there is ample opportunity from the Japanese perspective for cooperation between us, as two major nations sharing common values," he said.

"We should move forward decisively to make what efforts we can in cooperation with key countries towards the objective of creating an Arc of Freedom and Prosperity," Aso said.

Sources say the two sides plan to conduct a 'goodwill exercise' between Japanese Maritime Self Defence Force and the Indian Navy in April. It was decided that regular exchanges will be held between the coast guards of the two countries in combating piracy.

The two countries are also keen on enhancing their economic and trade cooperation, which forms a key part of the strategic engagement.

Japan's role in SAARC may also come up for discussions as the visit is taking place before the 14th SAARC summit begins in New Delhi on April 3. Japan was accorded an observer status for the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation.