The foreign ministers of Japan, the United States and India agreed Monday in New York to work together to develop strategically important ports and other infrastructure in the Indo-Pacific region, apparently seeking to balance China's bid to strengthen its regional influence.
Foreign Minister Taro Kono said he, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj "completely agreed to coordinate with each other toward the realization of a free and open Indo-Pacific."
They agreed to work to spread and establish their shared basic values of the rule of law and the freedom of navigation and overflight in the region, Foreign Ministry officials said.