UK stresses enhancing ties with international partners amid 'global threats'

By Burak Bir

LONDON (AA) - Britain and Japan are standing “closer together than ever before" in support of a rules-based international order, the British defense secretary said Tuesday, citing the importance of strengthening ties with partners and allies in the face of "global threats."

Grant Shapps visited Tokyo to meet his counterpart, Minoru Kihara, as part of progress in landmark UK-Japan treaties, the UK Ministry of Defence said in a statement.

"It follows the signing and implementation of the ground-breaking Reciprocal Access Agreement by the Prime Minister (Rishi Sunak) earlier this year, which will underpin our shared defence activity by enabling the UK and Japan to operate and exercise together more easily," it said.

The ministry noted that the UK and Japan are each other’s "closest security partner in Europe and Asia respectively," which is a commitment reaffirmed in the Hiroshima Accord announced by prime ministers Rishi Sunak and Fumio Kishida on the margins of the G7 Summit last summer.

"Amid increasing tension and instability across the world – it is more clear than ever that the threats we face are global, and it’s particularly important we strengthen our relations with our international partners and allies," said Shapps.

Shapps discussed how the two countries can further deepen cooperation with Kihara and said that they reaffirmed their commitment to building "a truly next-generation combat aircraft through GCAP (Global Combat Air Programme)."

"Despite the distance between us, the UK and Japan stand closer together than ever before in support of peace, stability, and the rules-based international order," Shapps added.

The GCAP is a multinational initiative led by the UK, Japan and Italy to develop a sixth-generation stealth fighter.