Arab News Japan

RIYADH: IWAI Fumio, Ambassador of Japan to Saudi Arabia, hosted a reception on Oct. 31 at his residence on the occasion of the Japan Self-Defense Forces (JSDF) 68th anniversary, in the presence of Rear Admiral Yahya bin Mohammed Al Majrashi, Deputy Chief of Naval Operations at the Royal Saudi Naval Forces, and a number of government officials and diplomats.

Ambassador Iwai highlighted the contributions of the JSDF to the international community, through their participations to the United Nations’ peacekeeping activities.

In this regard, he shed light on the International Peace Cooperation Law enacted in 1992, which enabled the JSDF to join UN peacekeeping activities. Since then, more than 12,500 JSDF officials engaged themselves in various UN peacekeeping missions. In addition, Iwai stated that the JSDF started its triangular partnership program with the UN in 2015 with the aim to develop capacity of Asian and African military units in civil engineering as well as in medical fields.

In 2015, Japan introduced a series of legislations related to peace and security, so that it could work more closely with countries that share common values and interests, to maintain peace and stability in the world.

In his speech, Iwai recalled the strong relationship between Japan and Saudi Arabia in the field of security cooperation.

He said: “Japan and the Kingdom enjoy the long tradition of partnership. As part of such partnership, JSDF’s ships and aircrafts are working with their counterparts for more than ten years in operations to protect vessels in the waters off the coast of Somalia and in the Gulf of Aden.”

He added: “We also have continued dialogues with the Kingdom at various levels, including the ministerial one, on security cooperation, and I sincerely hope to see more and more tangible results of cooperation between JSDF and the Royal Saudi Armed Forces in the months to come.”