The importance of the strategic location of the Indo-Pacific region has risen significantly in recent years, and the research group founded by Akihiko Tanaka, president of Japan’s Graduate School of Policy Studies, and others made a proposal to the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs on February 29 to concretize Japan’s main axis “free and open Indo-Pacific” and hold a four-nation summit of Japan, the United States, India and Australia in response to China’s development, without ruling out the possibility of inviting the United Kingdom and France to participate in the future.
According to Kyodo News, the proposal suggests that the Indo-Pacific region will become the engine of global economic development in the future, and therefore, the importance of maintaining the international order in the region has risen, saying that “countries striving to achieve free and democratic economies and societies should cooperate,” thereby calling on relevant countries to work together to restrain China’s future movements, in addition to the need for Japan to continue to strengthen its military defense capabilities.
In addition to the four countries plus Britain and France, the proposal urges the U.S., China, and Russia to address cruise missile restrictions and prevent the proliferation of cruise missile weapons in light of the rise in the arms race in recent years.
However, the proposal, in addition to the summit and arms limitation, concludes that if the “free and open Indo-Pacific” vision is to be realized, it is necessary to work with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which is located in the Indo-Pacific region, to strengthen multilateral relations through supply chain diversification, including the expansion of parts procurement and supply networks.
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