Australia and Japan are set to sign a treaty to beef up defence and security cooperation at a virtual summit today. The move to strengthen ties comes amid China’s rising military power and economic clout in the Indo-Pacific region. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said, he and his Japan counterpart Fumio Kishida would sign a Reciprocal Access Agreement (RAA), which would for the first time set out a framework for the two countries’ defence forces to cooperate with each other. He said, this treaty will be a statement of the two nations’ commitment to work together in meeting the shared strategic security challenges they face and to contribute to a secure and stable Indo-Pacific.
The strengthened security ties will expand on efforts of Quad grouping comprising United States, Japan, India and Australia dubbed to work on shared concerns as well as freedom of navigation in the region.
