(Provisional translation by an external company for reference purpose only)
On June 24, Wednesday, the day after tomorrow, I will hold a Japan-Canada defense ministerial meeting with the Hon. David J. McGuinty, Minister of National Defence of Canada, at the Ministry of Defense. Since assuming office as Defense Minister, I have held a meeting with Minister McGuinty in Munich in February and in Tokyo in March. This week’s meeting will mark our third Japan-Canada defense ministerial meeting. Defense cooperation with Canada, a country which shares fundamental values with Japan and has strengthened engagement in the Indo-Pacific in recent years, has important significance today, when the security of the Euro-Atlantic and the Indo-Pacific is inseparable. At the meeting, I look forward to sharing views on the regional situation and holding a candid and substantive discussion toward further deepening Japan-Canada defense cooperation, and thereby enhance our relationship of trust.