Japan-Germany Defense Chief Meeting Set for Sun.

Tokyo/Berlin, March 19 (Jiji Press)–Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi told a press conference Thursday that he will hold a meeting with his German counterpart, Boris Pistorius, in the city of Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, south of Tokyo, on Sunday. They are expected to exchange opinions on escalating tensions over Iran while discussing how to advance Japan-Germany defense cooperation. The ministers are also slated to visit together the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force’s Yokosuka base and the U.S. Navy base in the same city. Koizumi last met with the German defense minister in Munich last month on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference in the German city. According to the German government’s announcement Wednesday, Pistorius will visit Singapore and Australia, in addition to Japan, for nine days from Friday. The security of Europe and that of the Indo-Pacific region are closely interconnected, a German Defense Ministry spokesperson said, adding that how to secure a rules-based international order and solid supply chains will be a major challenge. Officials from major German defense equipment makers, such as Airbus and ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems, will accompany Pistorius on the Asia-Pacific tour, planning to deepen cooperation with defense industries in Japan and other destinations. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]