January 15 ANI Japan and France will hold virtual two-plus-two security talks in January to discuss China's assertive territorial claims in the East and South China Seas and North Korea's nuclear and missile development, according to Kyodo News Agency.
This comes at a time when China's rising maritime assertiveness and North Korea launched what became the third launch of apparent ballistic missiles in 10 days.
According to the news agency, the upcoming talks are expected to focus on deepening defence cooperation and enhancing the countries' security response capacity amid increasing military threats in the Indo-Pacific region.
Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi and Defence Minister Nobuo Kishi will be in the virtual meeting with their respective French counterparts Jean-Yves Le Drian and Florence Parly.
Both sides are expected to release documents after the two-plus-two talks. This is the first of its kind meeting since the last session in January 2019 in France.
The defense minister is Nobuo Kishi and Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi are expected to be at the meeting. The French side will be represented by Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Yves Le Drian and Minister for the Armed Forces Florence Parly.