By Saadet Gokce
ISTANBUL (AA) - Japan and Canada on Tuesday agreed on strengthening their security cooperation by signing a security pact "at an early date."
Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and his Canadian counterpart Mark Carney met on the sidelines of the Group of 7 (G7) Kananaskis Summit Meeting in Alberta, Canada on Tuesday (Japan time), according to a statement from the Japanese Foreign Ministry.
The two leaders "concurred on fortifying Japan-Canada security cooperation by signing, at an early date, the Agreement on the Security of Information and the Agreement concerning Transfer of Defense Equipment and Technology," said the statement.
Tokyo and Ottawa had reached the agreement "in principle" early this year.
An agreement concerning the Reciprocal Provision of Supplies and Services between the Self-Defense Forces of Japan and the Canadian Armed Forces is already in force, according to the statement.
Ishiba and Carney also discussed the possibility of cooperation between Japan and Canada in various areas, including batteries and critical minerals, as well as economic issues such as "increased uncertainty of the global economy and the multilateral free trade system."
Ishiba separately met with Germany's Chancellor Friedrich Merz after his meeting with Carney.
Merz and Ishiba discussed economic issues such as "responses to the US tariff measures," according to the statement.
The two leaders additionally discussed the Indo-Pacific situation, their policies toward North Korea "including on the nuclear and missile issues," and the ongoing Ukraine-Russia war, while confirming that "they would work closely together on various challenges that the international community is faced with."
Ishiba and Merz agreed on enhancing bilateral cooperation in the fields of security and economic security.