Japan and Australia reaffirmed their cooperation toward realizing a free and open Indo-Pacific, or FOIP, amid an increasingly severe security environment, when their foreign ministers met in Tokyo on Tuesday.
The first in-person meeting between Japan’s Toshimitsu Motegi and Australia’s Penny Wong since last October came ahead of next Monday’s summit in Australia between their prime ministers, Sanae Takaichi and Anthony Albanese.
The FOIP initiative, first put forward in 2016 by then Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, aims to promote the rule of law, free trade and stability in the region and has since become a central principle of Japan’s diplomacy.
The foreign ministers also agreed during their roughly 40-minute talks to step up cooperation in areas such as defense and economic security, the Foreign Ministry in Tokyo said.
At the start of the talks, Motegi said Japan and Australia are central partners among like-minded nations and are expected to “further advance cooperation across a wide range of fields.”
Wong said bilateral relations “have never been more strategically aligned.”
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Japan-Australia Basic Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation.
Motegi and Wong also discussed developments in the Indo-Pacific region and the Middle East, reaffirming bilateral coordination in addressing shared challenges, including ensuring the free and safe passage of ships through the Strait of Hormuz, the ministry said.
They then underscored the importance of ensuring a stable supply of energy and critical materials for the Asia-Pacific region amid continued tensions involving the United States, Israel and Iran.
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