TOKYO: The United States at a key security meeting with Japan on Sunday announced a plan to grant authority for troop management, such as command and operation planning, to U.S. forces in Japan.
At so-called two-plus-two security talks in Tokyo, the foreign and defense ministers of Japan and the United States agreed to strengthen cooperation for securing the credibility of the U.S. extended deterrence including the supply of its nuclear umbrella.
Japan plans to set up at the end of next March a joint operation command tasked with centrally supervising the operations of the Air, Ground and Maritime Self-Defense Forces.
Currently, the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command in Hawaii is directing U.S. forces in Japan. The U.S. side aims to strengthen the command and control cooperation between its military and the Japanese SDF.
A joint press statement released after the two-plus-two meeting said that U.S. forces in Japan will be restructured into a joint forces command under the commander of the Indo-Pacific Command and that the joint forces command will be an important counterpart of the planned SDF joint command.
The two sides agreed to set up a task force for coordination related to the planned revamps.
The two-plus-two meeting was attended by Japan’s Foreign Minister KAMIKAWA Yoko and Defense Minister KIHARA Minoru, and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.
JIJI Press