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TOKYO: Japan and Australia agreed to an innovative defense pact on Tuesday (November 17) that facilitates reciprocal visits for training and operations.
The Reciprocal Access Agreement strengthens defense ties between the two U.S. allies at a time when China is asserting its role in the region and the United States is undergoing a leadership transition.
A legal framework allowing Japanese and Australian troops to visit each other’s countries and conduct joint training and operations was initially agreed upon by Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and his Australian counterpart Scott Morrison, who is visiting Tokyo.
“In the Indo-Pacific region, security and defense cooperation between Japan and Australia, who have the will and ability to contribute to regional peace and stability, is becoming increasingly important,” Suga said at a joint press conference.
“By this announcement that we reached an agreement in principle on a reciprocal access agreement, which had been negotiated to elevate the security and defense cooperation between Japan and Australia to a new level.”
It will be Japan’s first agreement covering foreign military presence on its soil since a 1960s status of forces agreement that allowed the United States to base warships, fighter jets, and thousands of troops in and around Japan as part. of an alliance that Washington describes as the basis of regional security.
“Our special strategic partnership became even stronger, particularly as we have taken a significant step forward in Japan and Australia today by reaching agreement in principle on the historic defense treaty, the Reciprocal Access Agreement,” Morrison said.
The countries have been negotiating the defense agreement for six years.
