Japan has supported closer security collaboration with South Korea and India in the Indo-Pacific region. This announcement came shortly after the Philippines’ Military Chief indicated that a U.S.-backed security group is seeking to include both nations in its efforts to counter China in the area.
In a statement to Reuters on Monday, Japan’s Ministry of Defence stated that it endorses the development of a multi-layered network of alliances. However, the ministry did not specify whether it has agreed to or considered the expansion of the Squad group.
The Squad is an informal multilateral grouping made up of Australia, Japan, the Philippines, and the United States, focused on defence cooperation, intelligence sharing, and joint military exercises and operations.
“It is important to build networks among allies and like-minded countries organically and in a multi-layered manner, as well as to expand such networks and strengthen deterrence, as Japan faces the most severe and complex security environment since the end of World War II,” Japan’s Ministry of Defence said.
It added that the ministry “believes that close cooperation among regional partners, including Australia, the Philippines, as well as the Republic of Korea and India is extremely important from the perspective of realizing a ‘Free and Open Indo-Pacific’, while the Japan-U.S. Alliance remains at its core.”
General Romeo S. Brawner, Military Chief of the Philippines, said at a security forum in New Delhi last week that Squad nations were trying to include India and South Korea in the grouping to counter China. His remarks followed a series of escalating confrontations between Manila and Beijing over the past couple of years in the disputed waters of the South China Sea.
India’s Defence Ministry and South Korea’s embassy in India did not respond to a request for comment.
Christopher Elms, the spokesperson of the U.S. Embassy in India, told Reuters last week that, “The United States will continue to work with all of our partners to continue to advance a more secure and prosperous Indo-Pacific region”.
Australia’s Defence Ministry did not respond to a request for comment.
Team BharatShakti (With inputs from Reuters)
