SINGAPORE: Japanese Prime Minister KISHIDA Fumio and his Singaporean counterpart, Lee Hsien Loong, on Friday agreed to cooperate on the strengthening of the free and open international order based on the rule of law.

The two leaders, meeting at Changi International Airport in Singapore, reached the agreement as they discussed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the situation in the East and South China Seas where China is showing increasingly hegemonic moves.

Among member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Singapore is the only country that has imposed sanctions on Russia over its war in Ukraine.

Kishida held the meeting with Lee over lunch for some 75 minutes at the Singaporean airport where a Japanese government jet carrying Kishida stopped over for refueling on its way back to Japan after the Japanese prime minister’s tour of four African nations.

Kishida briefed Lee on a new action plan he announced in March to promote a free and open Indo-Pacific and Japan’s three key security documents revised in December last year. In response, Lee said he looks forward to the role to be played by Japan in the region.

The two leaders then confirmed that their countries will strengthen cooperation in the field of defense and the digital area.

With this year marking the 50th anniversary of friendly and cooperative relations between Japan and ASEAN, Kishida and Lee agreed to move in step with each other toward a related summit meeting to be held in Tokyo in December.

Kishida last visited Singapore in June 2022.

JIJI Press