Thailand, Sri Lanka, Tonga, East Timor and Papua New Guinea are expected to become the newest recipients of Japanese military aid as Tokyo looks to double the number of countries involved in its official security assistance (OSA) program this fiscal year to eight.
The Foreign Ministry is currently in discussions with these countries, as well as with earlier recipients Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines, a government source told The Japan Times on Monday.
The move, the official added, is part of an incremental push to gradually include more countries in the program “to help maintain stability in the Indo-Pacific region.”
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