Kishida, Albanese agree to work together over regional security

Jiji Press

16:57 JST, May 25, 2022

TOKYO (Jiji Press) — Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and his Australian counterpart, Anthony Albanese, agreed on Tuesday to work together to realize a free and open Indo-Pacific and bolster security cooperation.

At a meeting held at the State Guest House in Tokyo, Kishida and Albanese criticized Russia for its invasion of Ukraine and shared the view that similar actions should not happen in the Indo-Pacific region.

Kishida congratulated Albanese over his Labor Party’s victory in Saturday’s general election in Australia. Albanese took office on Monday.

Given the severe security environment in the region, the two nations will have to further beef up their strategic partnership, Kishida said.

Saying that Australia will not drastically change its foreign policy despite the change in government, Albanese voiced his hopes to deepen cooperation in the Indo-Pacific.

The two also agreed to speed up procedures for an early entry into force of a reciprocal access agreement, designed to smooth the way for visits to each other’s countries by Self-Defense Forces and Australian forces.

Kishida and Albanese vowed to accelerate work to renew the 2007 joint declaration on security cooperation.