Former Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Thursday called on NATO ambassadors to invite Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi to the alliance’s summit in Turkey in July, sources familiar with the matter said.
Kishida met in Tokyo with envoys from 30 member states of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
“Strategic cooperation with reliable NATO members is becoming increasingly important,” he told reporters after the meeting.
Kishida became the first Japanese prime minister to attend a NATO summit in June 2022. The following year, Japan and NATO agreed to advance cooperation in 16 areas, including maritime security, outer space, cyberspace and countering disinformation.
Later Thursday, the NATO ambassadors paid a courtesy call on Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi.
Norway’s representative, Anita Nergaard, told the Japanese minister at the outset of the meeting, which was open to the media, that security in the Indo-Pacific and the Euro-Atlantic is “closely interconnected,” citing Russia’s war against Ukraine and the situation in the Middle East.
While North Korea has been deploying troops to Russia to support its war against Ukraine, the Middle East conflict threatens global oil supplies.
“This visit to Japan, and we came from South Korea, is a clear demonstration of our interest in working more closely together with Japan and the other Indo-Pacific partners,” she said. “We look forward to exploring how to deepen our partnership further, including on issues such as defense industry, innovation, cyber and space.”
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Source : https://japantoday.com/category/politics/kishida-urges-nato-to-invite-japan-to-july-summit
