The United Kingdom, as part of its stated Indo-Pacific foreign policy tilt, has confirmed an in principle defence and security agreement with Japan which would allow British and Japanese forces to exercise and operate together. The agreement is the first of its kind between Japan and a European country. It comes after both PMs condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The agreement also follows the UK government’s defence and foreign policy integrated review, published last year, which announced a ’tilt’ towards the Indo-Pacific region. ‘We in the UK recognise that our security in Europe is indivisible from the security, our collective security, in the Asia-Pacific, in the Indo-Pacific region,’ Johnson said.
As two great island democracies, and the third and fifth largest economies in the world, the UK and Japan are focussed on driving growth, creating highly skilled jobs and ensuring we remain technology superpowers, said Johnson. The visit of Prime Minister Kishida will accelerate our close defence relationship and build on our trade partnership to boost major infrastructure projects across the country supporting our levelling up agenda, he said. Kishida’s visit comes days after Johnson’s visit to India, during which defence and security cooperation with the Indo-Pacific region was in focus as well. The Reciprocal Access Agreement with Japan has been dubbed as a boost for the UK’s commitment to the region and further safeguarding global peace and security.
Japan, a member of the G7 group of leading economies, is part of the Western alliance defending Ukraine and has condemned the invasion, imposed sanctions on Russia and sent non-lethal military aid to Kyiv. A Downing Street spokesperson said: ‘Both leaders agreed that Russia’s barbaric invasion marked the end of the post-Cold War period and had major implications for wider international stability.’ Addressing UK business leaders at London’s Guildhall ahead of his meeting with Johnson, Kishida said Japan would utilise nuclear reactors to reduce its dependence on Russian energy. Johnson said the UK and Japan were ‘focused on driving growth, creating highly skilled jobs and ensuring we remain technology superpowers’.