04:46Japan: Italian and UK defence ministers hold talks with Japanese counterpart in Tokyo
Japanese Defence Minister Yasukazu Hamada hold talks with his British and Italian counterparts, Ben Wallace and Guido Crosetto in Tokyo on Thursday.
The ministers vowed success in developing a next-generation fighter jet by 2035, a plan unveiled late last year.
According to Japan's Ministry of Defence, cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region, where China has been intensifying its military activities, was also on the agenda.
"We, the three countries, issued a joint statement by our leaders last December and agreed to jointly develop the GCAP by 2035. We are very pleased to have here, for the first time, a defence summit meeting of the three countries in order to make sure that this major project is well underway," Hamada said.
Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP), the three-way project, was unveiled last December by the leaders of Japan and the two NATO members, as they reportedly have been facing increasingly severe security challenges, including Russia-Ukraine conflict that began in February 2022.
"Today, the world is getting more unstable, more insecure, and more anxious, and the direction of travel towards the end of the decade, is getting sadly worse. War in Europe, the tension in the Pacific has taught us one most important thing, that we need to secure our sovereignty in order to secure our resilience," Wallace mentioned.
04:46Japanese Defence Minister Yasukazu Hamada hold talks with his British and Italian counterparts, Ben Wallace and Guido Crosetto in Tokyo on Thursday.
The ministers vowed success in developing a next-generation fighter jet by 2035, a plan unveiled late last year.
According to Japan's Ministry of Defence, cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region, where China has been intensifying its military activities, was also on the agenda.
"We, the three countries, issued a joint statement by our leaders last December and agreed to jointly develop the GCAP by 2035. We are very pleased to have here, for the first time, a defence summit meeting of the three countries in order to make sure that this major project is well underway," Hamada said.
Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP), the three-way project, was unveiled last December by the leaders of Japan and the two NATO members, as they reportedly have been facing increasingly severe security challenges, including Russia-Ukraine conflict that began in February 2022.
"Today, the world is getting more unstable, more insecure, and more anxious, and the direction of travel towards the end of the decade, is getting sadly worse. War in Europe, the tension in the Pacific has taught us one most important thing, that we need to secure our sovereignty in order to secure our resilience," Wallace mentioned.