HIROSHIMA: Japanese Prime Minister KISHIDA Fumio and his British counterpart, Rishi Sunak, on Thursday agreed to consider a plan to create a framework where the Japanese Self-Defense Forces will protect British military assets such as warships and aircraft.

Kishida and Sunak issued the new Hiroshima Accord on bilateral economic, security and technology cooperation including the plan, as they met in Hiroshima prior to the three-day summit of the Group of Seven major democracies in the western Japan city from Friday.

Japan already has asset protection frameworks with the United States and Australia.

The accord also includes Britain’s plan to deploy a carrier strike group again to the Indo-Pacific. The British government said in a statement that the deployment will take place in 2025.

In their bilateral working dinner, Kishida told Sunak that the two countries have got rapidly closer in the last half year, citing the joint development of a next-generation fighter jet and the conclusion of a bilateral reciprocal access agreement for the SDF and the British military.

Sunak thanked Kishida for Japan’s support to let Britain into the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade deal and looked forward to strengthening ties with Japan.

Also under the accord, Japan and Britain will launch a semiconductor partnership to pursue cooperation in research and development and bolster supply chain resilience.

JIJI Press