Japan and the United States agreed Saturday to speed up talks on realigning the U.S. military in Japan and to launch a bilateral framework to enhance cooperation on development issues, a Japanese official said.
In talks in New York, Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura informed Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice that Japan is considering extending the Maritime Self-Defense Force's antiterrorism support mission in the Indian Ocean beyond Nov. 1.
Rice repeated the U.S. request that Japan promptly lift its ban on U.S. beef imports while Machimura responded that Tokyo will continue efforts toward resolving the matter as soon as possible, the official said.
"We want to accelerate the talks from the standpoint of maintaining deterrent power and reducing the burden on Okinawa and other localities" hosting U.S. bases, Machimura was quoted as saying. Rice responded that Washington also wants the negotiations to pick up speed.