After this, Prime Minister Kishida, who is visiting the United Kingdom, intends to hold a summit meeting with Prime Minister Sunak to confirm their solidarity toward the G7 Hiroshima Summit.
The two leaders are also expected to sign the Japan-UK Facilitation Agreement, which stipulates how the Self-Defense Forces and British forces will conduct joint exercises.
Prime Minister Kishida, who has been visiting member countries in Europe and the United States ahead of the G7 presidency of the Hiroshima Summit in May, was visiting London, England, the third destination of his visit, at 11:00 Japan time. Late in the day and night, I will be attending a summit meeting with Prime Minister Sunak.
At the meeting, Prime Minister Kishida hoped to confirm the solidarity of the G7 toward a successful summit, as the world faces the situation in Ukraine and food and energy issues.
He also explained that in order to protect the free and open international order, he is working to drastically strengthen defense capabilities, such as deciding on new security-related documents, and strengthen security cooperation between Japan and the United Kingdom. It seems that it will match by going.
In addition, after the summit meeting, the two leaders are expected to sign the "Japan-UK Facilitation Agreement", which pre-determines measures such as when the Self-Defense Forces and the British military conduct joint exercises.
"Japan-UK Facilitation Agreement" agreed in principle at summit meeting in May last year
In addition to being an ally of the United States like Japan, the United Kingdom has been strengthening its involvement in the Indo-Pacific region in recent years.
In 2017, the Self-Defense Forces and the British Armed Forces signed an ACSA = Acquisition and Cross-Servicing Agreement, which enables the mutual provision of goods such as water, food, fuel, and services such as communications.
Then, in October 2018, formal negotiations began on the Japan-UK Facilitation Agreement, which stipulates how to handle joint training, etc., and a general agreement was reached at the Japan-UK Summit Meeting in May last year.
In addition, two years ago, the British state-of-the-art aircraft carrier "Queen Elizabeth" called at a port in Japan and conducted joint training with the Self-Defense Forces in the seas south of Okinawa.
Furthermore, in December last year, the three countries, including Italy, announced that they would jointly develop the next fighter for the Air Self-Defense Force.
What is a “Facilitation Agreement”?
A facilitation agreement is an agreement aimed at facilitating mutual visits between the Self-Defense Forces and the armed forces of the other country.
Arrangements are made in advance regarding the handling of weapons and ammunition when visiting each other's country and conducting joint training and providing disaster relief, as well as jurisdiction in the event of an incident or accident.
Unit operations will be smoother as there will be no need to set rules for each visit.
Apart from the Japan-US Status of Forces Agreement, Japan will be the second country to sign a facilitation agreement, following Australia in January last year.
For the agreement to take effect, both countries need to approve the treaty and develop domestic laws. The governments of Australia and the United Kingdom will submit their respective agreements and related bills to the ordinary Diet session to be convened this month.