Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera and Australian counterpart David Johnston agreed Monday to expand technological cooperation on defense equipment following Japan's relaxation of a decades-old arms embargo.
Johnston also backed the Prime Minister Shinizo Abe's move to lift Japan's ban on the right to collective self-defense, Onodera told reporters after the talks the coastal city of Perth.
At a summit in Tokyo earlier this month, Abe and Australian leader Tony Abbott agreed to begin negotiations on forming a framework for jointly making defense equipment.