SPECIAL FEATURE
MOD Efforts for the Vision of a “Free and Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP)”
Countries to work with in achieving FOIP
The United States as Japan’s ally, Australia, India, the United Kingdom, France and other European countries, Canada and New Zealand are countries that not only share the values of the FOIP vision, but also have ties to the Indo-Pacific region. The MOD/JSDF has been promoting defense cooperation and exchanges with these countries so that when engaging in initiatives with them, by working together as partners, it is possible to achieve stronger effects than when promoting efforts on our own.
01 United States
Working together with the United States, Japan provided capacity building assistance for the Vietnamese Navy through a seminar on underwater medicine. In addition, as part of the Indo-Pacific Deployment (IPD), several U.S. naval vessels joined in a Japan-U.S. bilateral exercise, helping to improve interoperability and contribute to regional peace and stability.
02 Australia & New Zealand
In cooperation with the United States and Australia, capacity building program on survey and heavy equipment maintenance was provided to the Timor-Leste Defense Force to improve its engineering-related capacity, which contributed to further strengthening relations. In addition, the JASDF participated in the trilateral Japan-U.S.-Australia Exercise “Cope North,” which was conducted in Guam and the surrounding seas and airspace. Through this participation the JASDF further enhanced cooperation with other participating nations.
Also, Japan, with the United States, Australia and New Zealand, held the multilateral HA/DR exercise operation “Christmas Drop.”
03 UK & France
The Japan-France-Australia-U.S. multilateral naval exercise “La Pérouse” was conducted in the Indian Ocean, serving to further maintain and strengthen the maritime order, as well as to promote mutual understanding and trust among the participating countries.
With the UK, a more “practical” cooperative relation is being established through initiatives such as bilateral exercises between the ground components and maritime security cooperation.
04 India
In September 2019, the first-ever Japan-India Foreign and Defence Ministerial Meeting (“2+2”) was held, where it was announced that the two Ministers acknowledged security challenges and would advance bilateral security cooperation. In addition, various specific service-to-service exchanges have been promoted, including “Dharma Guardian,” a bilateral exercise with the Indian Army, “SHINYUU Maitri,” a bilateral exercise with the Indian Air Force, and the Japan-U.S.-India trilateral naval exercise “Malabar.”
The above are the examples of approaches of MOD/JSDF for maintaining and strengthening the FOIP vision.
In order to build mutual trust among nations and establish a foundation for cooperation for solving regional security issues, the MOD/JSDF intends to strategically promote multi-faceted and multi-layered security cooperation, while taking into account the international situation, regional characteristics, other nations’ situations and security issues.
A new pamphlet introducing the MOD’s approach in achieving the vision of FOIP has been published. Please check the detail from here:
https://www.mod.go.jp/e/publ/pamphlets/pdf/indo_pacific/indo_pacific_e.pdf
Sub Navigation
