ANKARA - Japan, NATO and the alliance's three other Indo-Pacific partners agreed Tuesday to strengthen cooperation in defense industries and cybersecurity, reaffirming that the security of Europe is indivisible from that of the Indo-Pacific during talks in Ankara.
Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi and Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi met with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, as well as senior officials and leaders from the other Indo-Pacific Four partners -- South Korea, Australia and New Zealand.
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, Australian Minister for Defense Industry Pat Conroy and New Zealand Defense Minister Chris Penk attended the meeting, which was held on the sidelines of the two-day summit of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization that began Tuesday.
According to Japan's Foreign Ministry, Rutte and representatives from the Indo-Pacific countries held candid exchanges of views on the international situation, including Russia's aggression against Ukraine, challenges related to China, issues in the Indo-Pacific such as responding to North Korea, and the situation in Iran.
The ministry said Motegi stressed that security in the Euro-Atlantic and Indo-Pacific regions is inseparable, as demonstrated by the military cooperation between Russia and North Korea in Moscow's war against Ukraine.
He said a strong relationship between NATO and the Indo-Pacific partners would contribute to global peace and stability and expressed his intention to deepen cooperation with NATO and strengthen strategic ties.
Rutte thanked the four countries for their support for Ukraine, according to the ministry.
On Monday, Rutte said at a news conference that he had exchanged messages with Koizumi after China's military test-fired a submarine-launched ballistic missile, calling it "evidence that we cannot be naive about China," and stressing the need for closer cooperation between NATO and its Indo-Pacific partners.
