Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and visiting Indonesian President Joko Widodo pledged Monday to strengthen relations between their two nations, committing to maritime stability and promoting investment in infrastructure development for the Southeast Asian nation.
"As maritime and democratic countries representing Asia, we agreed to further enhance our strategic partnership," Abe said after the summit with the Indonesian leader popularly known as Jokowi, who chose Japan as his first foreign destination for a bilateral meeting outside the Association of Southeast Asian Nations since taking office in October.
At a joint news conference after their meeting, Abe said he and Jokowi agreed to launch a forum to achieve an "open and stable" maritime environment through high-level talks between the two countries.