Britain and Japan will sign a landmark deal that will allow UK forces to deploy to the Far Eastern country.
“Years of negotiations will culminate in the signing today, which will rapidly accelerate defense and security cooperation and allow the UK and Japan to deploy forces in each other’s countries,” British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s office said in a press release on Wednesday.
“It will also cement the UK’s commitment to the security of the Indo-Pacific, enabling both forces to plan and conduct larger-scale and more complex military exercises and deployments,” the statement continued. “The UK will be the first European country to have a Reciprocal Access Agreement with Japan, the most important defense treaty between the UK and Japan since 1902.”
Negotiations began in 2021 and will conclude with a signing at the Tower of London. The agreement will allow Britain and Japan to deploy troops in each other’s countries.
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The deal will help the two countries “consolidate our commitment to the Indo-Pacific and underscore our joint efforts to bolster economic security, accelerate our defense cooperation and boost innovation that creates highly-skilled jobs,” Sunak said.
Britain’s Prime Minister Rishi Sunak smiles at Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida after they signed a defense agreement at the Tower of London, Wednesday, January 11, 2023.
(Photo by Carl Court/Pool via AP, File)
The British government said it would allow the UK and Japanese militaries to “plan and conduct larger and more complex military exercises and deployments.”
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The signing reflects a new “Indo-Pacific tilt” in Britain’s foreign policy following the country’s exit from the European Union in 2020. Britain sees Japan as its key ally in East Asia amid the growing concern over China’s growing assertiveness and military plans towards Taiwan, which it views as a rogue province.
Prime Ministers Rishi Sunak and Fumio Kishida arrive at the Tower of London on Wednesday, January 11, 2023.
(Photo by Carl Court/Pool via AP, File)
The deal also follows Britain’s request to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Partnership for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), a trade deal between a dozen countries that began in 2018 as an evolution of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, an agreement that never was. ratified after President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw from it.
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The UK applied to join the group in February 2021, with Japan taking the lead in negotiations to help Britain’s entry, so it remains a vocal supporter.
Prime Ministers Rishi Sunak and Fumio Kishida meet at the Tower of London on Wednesday, January 11, 2023.
(Photo by Carl Court/Pool via AP, File)
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said he hoped he and Sunak would have a “strategic discussion.”
The leaders discussed Japan’s current G-7 presidency, the need to maintain collective support for Ukraine against Russia, and efforts to maintain “chain resilience” in Asia.
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They also visited an exhibition of Japanese armor that Shogun Tokugawa Hidetada of Japan presented to King James VI and myself in 1613, marking the first trade agreement between England and Japan.
Associated Press contributed to this report.
