Japan and the United States are considering holding talks involving their foreign and defense chiefs in Tokyo on July 28, sources familiar with the matter said Saturday.
The two countries may also convene a meeting of foreign ministers of the Quad, which also includes Australia and India, the following day, they said. The itinerary will be finalized depending on the schedule of U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
It would be the first "two-plus-two" talks for Japan and the United States since January 2023, when the four Japanese and U.S. officials gathered in Washington.
Among the expected agenda items is a review of the Japan-U.S. alliance's command and control frameworks to allow for greater interoperability between their forces in peacetime and during contingencies. Regional security challenges, such as an increasingly assertive China, are driving the need for more cooperation.
Aimed at enhancing their alliance's deterrence and response capabilities, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and U.S. President Joe Biden agreed at a summit in Washington in April to direct their representatives to discuss the topic at the following two-plus-two talks.
Earlier this month, U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, who was visiting Singapore to attend a security forum, said he is looking "very closely" at an idea to put a four-star general in charge of U.S. Forces Japan.
The USFJ, headquartered in Yokota Air Base in the suburbs of Tokyo, is currently led by a three-star lieutenant general. The possible upgrade comes in conjunction with the establishment of a joint headquarters to unify the command of Japan's ground, maritime and air forces.
The Quad foreign ministerial meeting, meanwhile, was last held in September in New York, with officials reaffirming their steadfast commitment to realize a "free and open Indo-Pacific" and condemning North Korea's ballistic missile launches and its continued pursuit of nuclear weapons in violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions.
Related coverage:
Japan PM mulls talks with Ukraine's Zelenskyy next week
Japan PM mulls Mongolia trip to ask support for North Korea talks
Japan, Italy eye action plan to forge ties in diplomacy, defense
