Japan PM Suga says broad agreement reached on military pact with Australia

The pact called the Reciprocal Access Agreement is a legal framework to allow their troops to visit each other's countries and conduct training and joint operations. Suga made the comments during a joint press conference with Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison who is visiting Tokyo. The agreement still needs to be ratified by lawmakers.

Japan's Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said on Tuesday Japan and Australia had reached a broad agreement on their bilateral defence pact. The pact called the Reciprocal Access Agreement is a legal framework to allow their troops to visit each other's countries and conduct training and joint operations.

Suga made the comments during a joint press conference with Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison who is visiting Tokyo. The countries have been negotiating the defence deal for years to bolster their security ties as China increases its influence in the region. The agreement still needs to be ratified by lawmakers.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)