Loading
Search
▼ Japan-NATO Cooperation Enters New ‘Concrete’ Phase, Tokyo’s Envoy To Alliance Says
- Category:Other
Japan’s relationship with NATO is moving beyond broad political dialogue into more “concrete” forms of cooperation across key strategic and security areas, Tokyo’s ambassador to the alliance said in an interview Wednesday.
Following last June’s NATO summit at The Hague, bilateral engagement has entered a more institutionalized phase, Ambassador Osamu Izawa said, highlighting progress made in recent months in defense-industry coordination, emerging technologies and support for Ukraine.
The most significant leap forward, according to Izawa, has been the establishment of a high-level bilateral defense industry cooperation dialogue.
The first meeting was held in late October in Brussels, with a second slated to take place in Tokyo later this year that will include senior NATO secretariat officials.
“This is the first time for Japan and NATO to engage directly to promote industry cooperation,” said Izawa, who assumed his post last year as Tokyo’s first dedicated ambassador to the 32-member alliance.
"Before, we talked about possibilities, but there was no channel, no framework,” he said. “This is an epoch-making development.”
Unlike traditional government-to-government defense cooperation focused on heavy platforms such as fighter jets, the dialogue also targets “new domains” of warfare.
Following last June’s NATO summit at The Hague, bilateral engagement has entered a more institutionalized phase, Ambassador Osamu Izawa said, highlighting progress made in recent months in defense-industry coordination, emerging technologies and support for Ukraine.
The most significant leap forward, according to Izawa, has been the establishment of a high-level bilateral defense industry cooperation dialogue.
The first meeting was held in late October in Brussels, with a second slated to take place in Tokyo later this year that will include senior NATO secretariat officials.
“This is the first time for Japan and NATO to engage directly to promote industry cooperation,” said Izawa, who assumed his post last year as Tokyo’s first dedicated ambassador to the 32-member alliance.
"Before, we talked about possibilities, but there was no channel, no framework,” he said. “This is an epoch-making development.”
Unlike traditional government-to-government defense cooperation focused on heavy platforms such as fighter jets, the dialogue also targets “new domains” of warfare.
- 18:42
- Comment (0)
- Trackback(0)