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Australia and Japan give consent to sign visiting forces agreement

The Australian and Japanese governments are expected to reportedly sign a visiting forces deal when the Aussie Prime Minister would visit Japan in January next year. According to sources, the governments of both the countries have a strongly established relation, having signed mutual partnerships before.Reliable reports state that building up regional alliances is a key goal for both the countries, such as the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (QSD) between India, U.S., Australia, and Japan, that is aimed at holding joint military exercises in Asia to counter the Chinese domination across the region. The U.S., Australian, and Japanese chiefs have apparently displayed a strong signal of their alliance strength at the East Asia Summit held in the Philippines during the last quarter of this year.

Experts have claimed that these deals between the two developed economies will encourage the defense forces of the both the countries to conduct joint military exercises in either territory. As per industry analysts, the agreement will enable each nation to transport defense equipment and arms to another country in a relatively easy manner. It has been anticipated that the strategic move will help the Japanese and Australian defense forces to carry out joint military activities in a more effective manner.

Defense analysts cite that the purpose of VFA is to fight terrorism and equip the host country with modern ammunition and defense equipment to counter the terrorist activities prevalent in that region. Furthermore, there is a widespread claim that the deal can prove mutually beneficial for both the host and the foreign country as it would strengthen their alliance in terms of defense & security matters.

According to authentic sources, the Australian authorities are yet to confirm the validation of this joint military operation between the two nations. However, it has been forecast that the governments of Japan and Australia are eager to seal the VFA and successfully implement it by 2019.

Dhananjay Punekar: