Monitoring Desk
WASHINGTON: US President Joe Biden told Prime Minister of Japan Fumio Kishida on Friday that Washington remained strongly committed to its alliance with Tokyo and lauded Japan’s “historic” defense reforms.
Prime Minister Kishida is in the US on the last stop in a trip of the G7 industrial powers and has been seeking to boost long-standing alliances amid rising concern in the US and Japan about mounting regional security threats from North Korea and Russia.
In an interaction at the White House, US President called it a “remarkable moment” in the Washington-Tokyo alliance and said the two countries had never been closer.
US President meets Japan’s Prime Minister
President Biden said that the US is completely committed to the alliance, and significantly to the defense of the country. He said that they are modernizing their military alliances, building on Tokyo’s historic surge in defense expenditure, and new national security strategy.
On the occasion, Japan’s Prime Minister thanked President Biden for US work on regional security and said that Tokyo and Washington are currently confronting the most challenging security environment in the recent past. He said that Japan had formulated its new defense strategy released in December “to ensure prosperity and peace in the region.”
The country’s Prime Minister said the two sides shared fundamental values of democracy and the rule of law. Fumio Kishida further said that he looked forward to a “candid” discussion on matters including “a free and open Indo-Pacific”.
Tokyo last month announced its major military build-up since World War II, a departure from 70 years of pacifism due to new challenges in the region.
