ITALY-'Strategic Partnership' Agreed As Tokyo Looks To Bolster Alliances

Following a bilateral meeting in Rome, Japanese PM Fumio Kishida and Italian PM Giorgia Meloni have announced the establishment of a 'strategic partnership' between the two G7 members. The agreement comes as Tokyo seeks to bolster its military links with other G7 member states.

• The Russian invasion of Ukraine and China's increasing assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific has seen a number of US-aligned nations that are not in NATO seek to establish greater military links either with the US or with other industrialised democracies.
• For Australia, this came in the form of the AUKUS alliance. Japan already has a strong military alliance with the United States, but as it boosts its defence spending (a doubling is planned over the coming years) it is seeking to enhance links with other US allies. Kishida met with French President Emmanuel Macron on 9 Jan, and is meeting with the leaders of the UK and Canada in addition to US President Joe Biden later this week.
• Reuters: "The partnership would entail a mechanism of bilateral consultations on foreign policy and defence which will cover "all the areas of global and regional themes of mutual interest," Meloni added. Among the fields of heightened cooperation, Kishida [...] cited diplomacy, investment, railways and cinema."