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ShareBy Ghadeer Ghloum
KUWAIT: The Embassy of Japan hosted a reception on Wednesday on the occasion of Japan’s Self Defense Forces Day at the residence of Morino Yasunari, the Ambassador of Japan to the State of Kuwait. A large number of resident ambassadors and diplomats attended the event. Yasunari, in his opening remarks, expressed happiness to commemorate the establishment of Japan Self Defense Forces with the representatives of Ministry of Defense of Kuwait, other ministries of Kuwait, and many friends from the Diplomatic Corp and other offices.
He also thanked his guests for joining him on the event. He said Japan Self Defense Forces (JSDF), with its 69-year history, is becoming more active and conducting diverse activities to contribute to the world peace. “Especially in the Indo-Pacific region, JSDF is strengthening its cooperation with their ally, the US and other partners to protect the security of Japan and maintain peace and stability in the region,” he said.
In addition, Japan has formulated last December a new National Security Strategy as well as National Defense Strategy and is now pursuing fundamental reinforcement of its defense capabilities. Moreover, in the Middle East, JSDF is conducting anti-piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden and dispatching its personnel alongside Multilateral Force and Observers in the Sinai Peninsula. Additionally, he said that Kuwait, as an essential player for stability in the Middle East, is Japan’s close partner in the area of peace and security.
Japan is proud that JSDF has carried out humanitarian and reconstruction assistance activities in Iraq from 2004-08 with major support from Kuwait and expressed his hopes to further develop the cooperation with Kuwaiti Armed Forces through various exchanges, especially for education and training of personnel, he said. Yasunari also said that unfortunately, peace and security has constantly been disturbed or threatened in the world, including in the Middle East, and emphasized on the Russian aggression against Ukraine, describing it as a clear violation of the international law by a permanent member of the UN Security Council.
Japan is strongly opposed to such a unilateral attempt to change the status quo by force. Yoshimasa Hayashi, the former Foreign Minister of Japan, during his meeting with the Arab League nations, called for unity and underlined the need to uphold the free and open international order based on the rule of law. He concluded his speech by expressing his hopes that Japan and Kuwait will further enjoy their historical friendship and bolster cooperation for world peace and prosperity. He also introduced Japan’s new Defense Attache, Col Ryo Tatsukawa on the occasion.
