Chief of the Defence Force hosts Japanese counterpart

The Chief of the Defence Force Air Chief Marshal Mark Binskin welcomed his counterpart, General Shigeru Iwasaki Chief of Joint Staff Japanese Self Defense Forces, to Canberra recently on the first leg of a three day visit to Australia.

Air Chief Marshal Binskin said Japan and Australia had demonstrated strong cooperation in recent years on operations in the Indo-Pacific region.

During the visit, Air Chief Marshal Binskin and General Iwasaki discussed ways to further enhance practical defence cooperation between Japan and Australia.

“We are working together to further strengthen our bilateral engagement through exercises, operations and personnel exchanges,” Air Chief Marshal Binskin said.

“Japan and Australia are also examining ways to deepen our cooperation on humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, maritime security, peacekeeping and capacity building as well as expanding trilateral security cooperation with the US.”

Air Chief Marshal Binskin said Japan and Australia had already taken the first steps toward a partnership in defence science, technology and materiel.

“Our two nations have commenced work to determine the scope of our first cooperative defence science and technology project on marine hydrodynamics, as well as exploring potential opportunities to collaborate in this area in the future.”

The Defence chiefs also discussed the Acquisition and Cross-Servicing Agreement, which enables logistics support between Australian and Japanese forces cooperating in international operations, such as peacekeeping and humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.

General Iwasaki will also travel to Newcastle and Sydney during his Australian visit.