Japanese and British foreign and defense ministers agreed Wednesday to strengthen security ties and promote a free and open Indo-Pacific region as China becomes increasingly assertive in the East and South China seas.
Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said after a videoconference that Japan welcomes Britain's planned dispatch of an aircraft carrier strike group centered on the Queen Elizabeth, the Royal Navy's largest warship, to the west Pacific later this year.
In the so-called two-plus-two meeting, Japan also agreed with Britain to coordinate joint exercises involving the strike group with its Self-Defense Forces, according to the Japanese Foreign Ministry.