Makati City: To ensure that peace and stability prevail in the Indo-Pacific Region, Japanese Defense Minister Gen Nakatani announced on Monday that Japan will deepen its “bilateral cooperation” with the Philippines in operational cooperation, people-to-people exchange, and defense equipment and technology cooperation. This announcement was made during a media briefing at the Makati Shangri-La Hotel, highlighting the strategic partnership between the two nations.

According to Philippines News Agency, Nakatani emphasized the necessity of these initiatives due to the increasingly severe security environment. During the Japan-Philippines Defense Minister’s meeting, both Nakatani and Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. agreed on the importance of enhancing defense cooperation and collaboration to maintain peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific.

Nakatani outlined the need to strengthen operational cooperation through bilateral and multilateral training, unit-to-unit exchanges, including port calls, and strategic dialogues between high-level operational officers. This aims to advance information sharing and operational collaboration, further elevating the already established bilateral cooperation.

Additionally, Nakatani and Teodoro agreed to initiate discussions on military information protection mechanisms. The Japanese defense minister also stressed the importance of enhancing people-to-people exchanges, acknowledging the role of graduates from the Japanese National Defense Academy now serving in the Philippines. He expressed the intent to continue promoting educational exchanges and multilayered people-to-people interactions, including high-level exchanges and acceptance of international students.

Nakatani further emphasized the promotion of defense equipment and technology cooperation, highlighting the progress of contracted Japanese air surveillance and radio systems. He announced the launch of a new high-level dialogue between defense equipment authorities and the dispatch of Japanese public and private missions to the Philippines to advance mutually beneficial cooperation.