Japan, Australia to sign security pact
Australian Prime Minister John Howard and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will sign a joint security declaration when Howard visits Japan from Sunday, Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said Friday in an interview with The Yomiuri Shimbun.
The joint security declaration will include the implementation of joint drills between the Self-Defense Forces and Australian forces for disaster relief and U.N. peacekeeping operations, Downer said at his local office in Adelaide, South Australia.
For Japan, this will be the second security cooperative of its kind, the other being the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty.
The declaration between Japan and Australia will attach importance to bilateral cooperative relations contributing to peace and security in the region, which differing from the Japan-U.S. and Australia-U.S. alliances, which emphasize defense obligations.
Downer stressed that the declaration would give meaning to cooperative activities that Japan and Australia are expected to have in the future. He added that both are leading market economies and democracies and also are alliance partners with the United States who share common strategic viewpoints.
According to Downer, the joint security declaration will pledge cooperation against the threat of the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction by North Korea and a creation of a regular meeting of foreign and defense ministers between the two countries. It will also include cooperation with the U.S.-led Proliferation Security Initiative aimed to prevent the smuggling of WMDs, missiles and parts.
Australian forces have been in charge of maintaining the security in the southern Iraqi city of Samawah where SDF personnel have been stationed. Australian forces also cooperated with the SDF in relief operations after a massive earthquake struck off Sumatra, Indonesia, in December 2004. But they have yet to conduct a joint drill.
Therefore, the two countries will likely discuss a joint drill to take place on the Australian mainland.
