Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi said Tuesday he will visit Sweden to attend this weekend's European Union ministerial meeting focused on the Indo-Pacific region.
The EU's second Indo-Pacific Ministerial Forum, to be held in Stockholm on Saturday, is a vehicle to improve engagement with the fast-growing and economically-intertwined region.
The 27-member European bloc is looking to have the Asia-Pacific play a role in upholding the rules-based international order amid Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine and China's assertive behavior.
Hayashi told a news conference that he hopes to highlight during the meeting that the "security of Europe and the Indo-Pacific is inseparable, therefore, cooperation among like-minded nations has become more important," apparently given the deepening military ties between Beijing and Moscow.
During his four-day trip to the Scandinavian state from Friday, Hayashi also plans to hold bilateral meetings with Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom and other counterparts from participating nations.
The forum will bring together around 60 foreign ministers from Europe and the Indo-Pacific, according to the EU. Sweden holds the rotating EU presidency.
Discussions during the meeting will center on "common challenges with respect to security, trade, global value chains, digitalization, the green transition and energy security," the Swedish government said.
The first Indo-Pacific forum took place in Paris in February last year, days before Russia began its invasion of Ukraine.
Hayashi made a virtual appearance at the meeting which involved about 50 countries. China was not invited.