The National Security Advisers of Japan, the United States, and the Philippines discussed conducting combined maritime activities, including joint naval exercises, in Indo-Pacific waters to support freedom of navigation and the broader rules-based order.
Japan National Security Advisor Akiba Takeo, United States National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, and National Security Advisor Eduardo A?o of the Philippines held their first talks on June 16 in Tokyo, during which they discussed a concrete approach for improving trilateral cooperation.
According to the Philippine National Security Council’s statement, the three NSAs emphasized the importance of enhancing trilateral cooperation and response capabilities to maintain peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region.
To enhance trilateral-based and security capabilities, the three NSAs agreed to:
Conduct combined maritime activities, including multilateral joint naval exercises in Indo-Pacific waters in support of freedom of navigation and the broader rules-based order. Advance trilateral defense cooperation based on the recent progress between the US and the Philippines, such as the four additional locations identified under their Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement, and between Japan and the Philippines in discussing frameworks to enhance and facilitate reciprocal visits of defense and military officials.
To maintain free and open maritime order:
The NSAs reaffirmed the importance of trilateral joint training among the three countries’ coast guards that was conducted in early June. They also noted the importance of promoting Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA) by utilizing Japan’s new “Official Security Assistance (OSA)” cooperation framework, the QUAD’s Indo-Pacific Partnership for Maritime Domain Awareness (IPMDA), and other capacity-building measures.
In the efforts to enhance trilateral cooperation on humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, the three agreed to deepen trilateral cooperation in humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HA/DR), drawing on their military and civilian HA/DR capabilities.
Lastly, to maintain a free and equitable economic order, they agreed to make common efforts to promote economic security and economic resilience.
They also affirmed their commitment to addressing economic coercion in coordination with other partners.
“The three NSAs decided to convene additional trilateral exchanges in the coming months among the National Security Secretariat of Japan, the National Security Council staff of the United States, and the National Security Council of the Philippines, to further expand cooperation and information-sharing,” the statement added. — DVM, GMA Integrated News
