Courtesy Call on Prime Minister Kishida by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin (Summary)

On July 29, 2024, commencing at 3:10 pm, for approximately 20 minutes, Prime Minister KISHIDA Fumio, received a courtesy call from the Honorable Antony Blinken, Secretary of State of the U.S., and the Honorable Lloyd Austin, Secretary of Defense of the U.S. The overview of the courtesy call is as follows. The courtesy call was attended by Chief Cabinet Secretary of Japan HAYASHI Yoshimasa, Minister for Foreign Affairs KAMIKAWA Yoko, Minister of Defense KIHARA Minoru and other government officials.
 
1. At the outset, Prime Minister Kishida welcomed the visit of Secretary Blinken and Secretary Austin to Japan and mentioned that he had received reports of fruitful discussions at the Japan-U.S. Security Consultative Committee (Japan-U.S. “2+2”). He also stated that he would like to further strengthen the deterrence and response capabilities of the Alliance through discussions and concrete cooperation at various levels and frameworks, including between the Prime Minister and the President, and between Ministers. The participants congratulated the birthday of Prime Minister Kishida. Secretary Blinken underscored that the “2+2” Joint Statement, which reconfirms intention to implement new strategic initiatives, with the vision to build a global partnership for the future, is very significant. Secretary Austin stated that they had meaningful discussions about security and defense cooperation between two countries and expressed appreciation for Prime Minister Kishida’s various initiatives in the security area.
 
2. Both sides concurred that the Japan-U.S. “2+2” meeting this time confirmed steady progress on various important issues including the follow-up to the outcomes of Prime Minister Kishida's visit to the U.S. in April, such as upgrading Alliance command and control, and pursuing co-production. Regarding bilateral cooperation to continue strengthening U.S. extended deterrence, they also confirmed the significance of holding the first ministerial meeting on extended deterrence and having in-depth discussions at the ministerial level, in addition to the existing Japan-U.S. Extended Deterrence Dialogue. Furthermore, they confirmed the importance of the Japan-U.S.-Australia-India Foreign Ministers' Meeting and the Japan-U.S.-ROK Defense Ministers' Meeting held this time from the viewpoint of strengthening the network of like-minded countries.
 
3. While further strengthening the Alliance deterrence and response capabilities through such efforts, both sides discussed the importance of close coordination towards gaining the understanding of local communities, in order to ensure the stable stationing of U.S. forces in Japan.