France and Japan agree to start talks on military cooperation deal
France and Japan have agreed to start formal talks on a deal to share military training and operations amid rising maritime tensions in the Indo-Pacific region, and the war in Ukraine.
Paris and Tokyo have held numerous joint military exercises in recent years, bilaterally and as part of a wider group.
Notably, France has been pushing for more than a year to begin talks on a reciprocal access agreement (RAA) with its G7 ally.
RAAs create frameworks to facilitate military cooperation, for example making the entry of foreign personnel and equipment easier for the visiting force.
"They agreed to start negotiations," a Japanese government official said, as Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and President Emmanuel Macron met in Paris on Thursday. "Given the accumulation of cooperation and [military] exercises, we consider this important."
A Japanese government statement confirmed the agreement to move forward with talks. The French presidency said in a statement that concluding the RAA would promote interoperability between the two militaries.
Deal could take a year to conclude
Tokyo, which spent about two years negotiating the agreement with Australia and one year negotiating the one with Britain, hosts the biggest concentration of US forces abroad.
Read more on RFI English
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