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London – The Japanese and British governments reached a broad accord on Wednesday on a reciprocal access agreement, which will serve as a legal basis for mutual visits by Self-Defense Forces personnel and British troops.
The accord, announced by the office of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson to coincide with a visit to the country by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, is intended to enhance Japan-Britain defense cooperation at a time when security tensions are spreading in the Indo-Pacific region as well following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Kishida arrived in Britain earlier on Wednesday on the fifth and final leg of a tour of Southeast Asia and Europe.
The British government also revealed a plan to lift by the end of June its import restrictions on food produced in Fukushima Prefecture, which were introduced after the March 2011 triple reactor meltdown at Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc.’s tsunami crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power station.
The Japan-Britain RAA, designed to implement bilateral defense cooperation smoothly, will, among other things, simplify immigration procedures when troops from one country visit the other for joint exercises or relief activities in times of disaster, and stipulate jurisdiction in case a troop commits a crime or causes an accident in the other’s country.
Japan currently has an RAA with Australia.
The Japanese and British governments also agreed to clarify by year-end the full content of the two countries’ cooperation in their project to develop a next-generation fighter jet model.
In addition, they agreed on a joint action plan to help countries in Asia promote the development of renewable energy in order to reduce their dependence on oil and natural gas from Russia.
Britain decided to send a new “trade envoy” to Japan to spur bilateral trade and investment as part of efforts to achieve its goal of joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade deal, which includes Japan.
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