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A defense cooperation agreement was signed by the Japanese prime minister, Fumio Kishida, and the Australian prime minister, Scott Morrison, on Thursday afternoon.
The agreement defines the legal status of the Japanese and Australian forces during their visits to the other countries ahead of the telephone discussions setting the ground for conducting joint exercises.
The defense cooperation agreement with Australia is analogous to the United States military status of troops agreement in Japan, which is governed by the United States-Japan security treaty.
The goal is to increase defense cooperation while taking into consideration China’s hegemonic trends in the Indo-Pacific area.
This will be the first instance in which an agreement has been reached between Japan and Australia, which was regarded as a “semi-ally for Japan”
Following this military agreement, the Japanese side hopes to use it as a model for strengthening collaboration with allies.