WASHINGTON: NATO member states are not actively discussing the idea of establishing a liaison office in Tokyo, a senior US government official said Monday.

The remark was made by Douglas Jones, deputy assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs, in an online debate event hosted by the United States Institute of Peace, founded by Congress.

The United States and Britain actively sought to open a liaison office in Tokyo, while France opposed the idea. French President Emmanuel Macron has said that the Indo-Pacific region is not the North Atlantic.

Leaders of NATO member states will hold a summit in Washington in July. NATO plans to invite Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and other leaders of pro-NATO economies in the Indo-Pacific region.

NATO has liaison offices at the United Nations, the African Union and elsewhere.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told a press conference in July last year that the Tokyo office plan would be considered later.

JIJI Press