Kishida, Johnson Agree To Move Forward On Defense Cooperation Pact
Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio and his British counterpart Boris Johnson have agreed to swiftly move forward with the signing of a bilateral defense cooperation agreement.
The two leaders met for about half-an-hour on Tuesday, on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Germany.
Kishida expressed his gratitude for the United Kingdom's decision to lift import restrictions on food products from Fukushima Prefecture, which were introduced after the 2011 nuclear accident. The easing took effect on Wednesday.
Kishida then noted that a training fleet of Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force made a port call in London last week. He conveyed Japan's intention to promote security cooperation with Britain.
The two leaders agreed to push forward work to sign the Japan-UK Reciprocal Access Agreement that would stipulate how to organize joint exercises between Japan's Self-Defense Forces and the British military.
They also agreed to accelerate talks on Britain's cooperation to develop the next generation of fighter planes for Japan's Air Self-Defense Force.
Kishida and Johnson also confirmed that the G7 countries will work together to deal with issues in the food and energy sectors due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. They said they will support affected countries.
The prime ministers agreed that attempts to change the status quo by force will not be tolerated, apparently bearing in mind China's maritime activity in the Indo-Pacific region.