Minister of National Defence Arvydas Anušauskas met with Director General for International Affairs of the Bureau of Defense Policy of the Ministry of Defense of Japan Jun Miura visiting Lithuania on September 21-22. Expert-level consultations were held at the Ministry of National Defence for the second consecutive year strengthening the cooperation between the two countries.
“Deepening the cooperation is a natural step forward in the times of challenges posed to our countries by the Russian and Chinese activities and ambition. Expanding Lithuanian-Japanese relations are also reflected in the Lithuanian-Indo-Pacific Strategy Lithuania has unveiled this year,” said Minister A. Anušauskas.
J. Miura and his delegation of representatives of Japan’s Ministry of Defense met with MoD Defence policy Director Vaidotas Urbelis who moderated the consultations, representatives of the Ministry of National Defence and MoD subordinate bodies, and toured Lithuanian Armed Forces units.
The countries agreed during the consultations to continue the regular development of the dialogue format and sharing data on the Russian and Chinese activities. Other topics discussed were military contacts and increasing cooperation in the area of training. Lithuania and Japan intend to continue consulting on cyber, have agreed to launch contacts in the area of hybrid security and defence industry and technology. The war Russia had launched and assistance to Ukraine were discussed extensively at the consultations.
The Lithuanian and the Japanese Ministries of Defence have agreed to the official wording of a Memorandum of Cooperation, the document is expected to be signed at the next meeting.
