(Provisional translation by an external company for reference purpose only)
I will speak about two matters. The first is about the Defense Ministerial Meetings with the U.S. and Australia trilaterally, and with the U.S. and Australia respectively bilaterally. I will visit Darwin, Australia, from Saturday, November 16 to Monday, November 18. During this visit, I will hold the Australia-Japan-United States Trilateral Defence Ministers’ Meeting for the first time in Darwin, the Japan-U.S. Defense Ministerial Meeting, and the Japan-Australia Defense Ministers’ Meeting. The trilateral defense cooperation between Japan, the U.S. and Australia is the framework with the greatest potential to complement and strengthen the deterrence and response capabilities of the U.S., and it forms the core of cooperation between like-minded countries. Moreover, Darwin is located at a junction between the Indian and Pacific Oceans, and in a strategic location in northern Australia where the U.S. Forces are carrying out rotational deployment. Therefore, it is highly significant that we will hold these meetings there. At these meetings, we will share each country’s recognition of the regional affairs, as well as hold concrete discussions toward further advancing security and defense cooperation with the U.S. and Australia.
The second matter is about the signing of the Memorandum of Implementation (MOI) concerning the transfer of the Unified Complex Radio Antenna (UNICORN) to the Indian Navy. Since the establishment of the Three Principles on Transfer of Defense Equipment and Technology in April 2014, the Ministry of Defense has been working on the transfer of defense and equipment technology. Japan and India have continued discussions on the transfer of defense equipment and technology, and at the third Japan-India 2+2 Foreign and Defence Ministerial Meeting held in Delhi, India this August, the two countries concurred to value the progress made in coordinating the realization of the transfer of the UNICORN. On the transfer of the UNICORN to the Indian Navy, recently, we have reached the stage of signing an MOI setting out detailed arrangements to implement the Agreement between the Government of Japan and the Government of India concerning the Transfer of Defence Equipment and Technology, which entered into force in March 2016. The signing of the MOI is scheduled to take place this afternoon. I have seen the UNICORN firsthand recently when I visited FFM “Mogami” in Yokosuka on November 7. Japan has brought together all its technological capabilities to bring about the completion of this extraordinarily outstanding defense equipment, and we strongly hope to realize this transfer. The signing of this MOI marks a significant milestone for both Japan and India toward the realization of the UNICORN’s transfer. We intend to continue working on the realization of the transfer. Japan and India have a “Global and Strategic Partnership.” To secure the peace and stability of Japan and the region, it is very important to advance Japan’s defense cooperation with India to include defense equipment and technology cooperation as a part of regional defense cooperation. From this perspective, I consider the signing of this MOI to be highly significant.