UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Japan Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will sign the ‘Hiroshima Accord,’ a significant new global strategic cooperation.
Japan’s relationship with the UK has developed faster and further than any other international partner, reflecting Japan’s vital role in the Indo-Pacific and its importance to the UK’s security and economy. We have finished discussions to join the CPTPP trading bloc, inaugurated the UK-Japan-Italy Global Combat Air Programme, and signed a groundbreaking defence Reciprocal Access Agreement in the previous six months.
With new agreements on defence, commerce and investment, research and technology collaboration, and combined engagement on global concerns such as climate change, the Hiroshima Accord will solidify this partnership.
When the Prime Minister arrives in Tokyo on Thursday, he will visit a naval base and confirm a new UK-Japan defence collaboration. This includes doubling UK troop numbers in upcoming joint exercises, committing to deploying the Carrier Strike Group to the Indo-Pacific in 2025 and agreeing to a formal Consult Clause in which the UK and Japan commit to consulting each other on important regional and global security issues and considering response measures.
As part of the new Accord, the United Kingdom and Japan will establish a Semiconductors Partnership, with additional pledges to pursue ambitious R&D cooperation and skills exchange, boosting our domestic sectors and increasing supply chain resilience in an increasingly competitive market.
Later that day, the Prime Minister will host a reception in Tokyo with top Japanese business leaders to emphasise the importance of our trade and investment relationship. He is anticipated to announce billions of pounds in new job-creating investments in the United Kingdom.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said:
It is a privilege to be visiting Tokyo and Hiroshima at this historic moment in the United Kingdom’s relationship with Japan.
Prime Minister Kishida and I are closely aligned on the importance of protecting peace and security in the Indo-Pacific and defending our values, including free and fair trade.
The Hiroshima Accord will see us step up cooperation between our armed forces, grow our economies together and develop our world-leading science and technology expertise. It marks an exciting next phase in the UK and Japan’s flourishing partnership.
The fourth UKJapan joint ‘Vigilant Isles’ military exercises, scheduled for later this year in Japan, will be the largest ever, with over 170 UK personnel participating, including members of the 1 Royal Gurkha Rifles and the 16 Air Assault Brigade. Following its inaugural cruise to the Indo-Pacific in 2021, the United Kingdom will reveal today that its Carrier Strike Group will return to the region in 2025.
The fleet, which includes an aircraft carrier, escorts, and aircraft, will work with the Japanese Self-Defense Forces and other regional partners to help defend peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific. As part of the Hiroshima Accord defence agreements, the Prime Minister is likely to commit to a new Cyber Partnership with Japan. With Fujitsu UK joining the National Cyber Security Centre’s Industry 100 and the UK and Japan launching a new Japan Cyber Security Fellowship to nurture future cyber leaders, this will expand UK-Japan cyber collaboration and set a high level of ambition for the future relationship. We will also launch a new Renewable Energy Partnership to accelerate the deployment of sustainable energy in the United Kingdom, Japan, and other countries.
