Japan, Mongolia to Reach Basic Agreement on Defense Equipment Cooperation; Likely to be Confirmed During Kishida’s Visit to Mongolia Later This Month

The Yomiuri Shimbun

17:04 JST, August 5, 2024

The Japanese and Mongolian governments have entered the final phase of coordination toward a basic agreement on the transfer of defense equipment and technologies, under which the two countries will be able to export defense equipment to each other, according to Japanese government sources.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will likely confirm the deal with Mongolian President Ukhnaa Khurelsukh when Kishida visits Mongolia later this month and the two hold talks.

The agreement is to ensure the proper management of transferred defense equipment and technologies in the destination country. It is assumed that the agreement will be officially signed in autumn or later.

The Japanese government aims to encourage Mongolia to lower its level of reliance on China and Russia, with which the country has national borders, through helping the country enhance its capabilities in the field of national security.

Japan and Mongolia will discuss which defense items will be exported.

Kishida met with Khurelsukh in Tokyo in November 2022, and the two leaders issued a joint statement on the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations.

In the statement, the two countries agreed that Japan and Mongolia will promote cooperation in defense equipment and technology as part of efforts to upgrade their bilateral relationship on political and security fronts.

The Japanese government is also considering adding Mongolia to a list of nations it supports with Official Security Assistance (OSA), in which the Japanese government provides defense equipment and support free of charge to military forces of countries with which they share common values.

Mongolia has close ties with China and Russia over energy resources and logistics networks, but the Mongolian government wants to avoid overreliance on the two countries.

Thus, Mongolia has a basic policy of developing relations with “third neighbor” countries, including Japan.