Tokyo — Japan and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations have agreed to start a hotline between their defense agencies.
Thanks to the agreement reached at the meeting of deputy ministers in Tokyo, Japan will become the first country to have such a hotline with ASEAN.
The Japanese Ministry of Defense wants to establish close security ties with ASEAN member countries in the face of China’s aggressive actions in the South and East China Seas, sources familiar with the situation in the region say.
In 2017, ASEAN established a permanent defense hotline for its member states. She encourages non-member countries to also participate in the project.
This meeting was attended by Japanese Deputy Defense Minister for International Affairs Oka Masami and his counterparts from nine ASEAN countries, except Myanmar.
Source: Nippon.com
