Last Thursday, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida visited his Canadian counterpart Justin Trudeau in Ottawa to capstone a deepening relationship between their two countries.
The closer ties began five years ago with the partnership in bringing forward the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership and evolved with successive commitments for the two democracies to contribute to a free and open Indo-Pacific region.
Seen alongside the Canada's recent Indo-Pacific Strategy, the Japan-Canada cooperation underscores the importance of the region and that both countries share values including freedom, democracy, human rights and rule of law.