Japan, Mekong Countries Agree to Cooperate on Indo-Pacific Strategy

October 9, 2018

Tokyo- Leaders of Japan and five Southeast Asian countries along the Mekong River agreed Tuesday to work together for realizing a free and open Indo-Pacific strategy proposed by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

The leaders, gathered in Tokyo for an annual meeting, also reaffirmed their cooperation in efforts to denuclearize North Korea and deal with the situation in the South China Sea, where China is building military bases.

The leaders adopted at the summit a statement called the Tokyo Strategy 2018, which set new guidelines for cooperation between Japan and the five Southeast Asian countries--Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam.

At a joint press conference after the summit, Abe said Japan regards its ties with the Mekong nations as a new strategic partnership aimed at realizing sustainable growth and a prosperous future.

The Tokyo Strategy "welcomed Japan's policy to realize a free and open Indo-Pacific to contribute to the peace, stability and prosperity in the region and the world."

It called on Japan and the Mekong countries to work together to enhance "connectivity" in the Mekong region by improving infrastructure there.

The strategy also sought to promote cooperation in human resource development and education as well as disaster prevention and the fight against climate change.

While refraining from mentioning China by name, Japan and the Mekong countries said in the statement that the leaders "took note of some concerns over the situation in the South China Sea including land reclamations."

They "reaffirmed the need to enhance mutual trust and confidence, exercise self-restraint in the conduct of activities and avoid actions that may further complicate the situation" in the sea, it said.

The strategy urged North Korea to take "concrete actions" toward its complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization and called for "immediate resolution" of the issue of Japanese nationals abducted by Pyongyang decades ago.

Japan and the five Mekong countries have been holding their summit every year since 2009. The latest gathering was the 10th of its kind. Jiji Press