The Japanese and Australian governments plan to exchange a memorandum to cooperate on evacuating each other’s nationals in the event of a contingency in a third country, Japanese government sources said Wednesday.
The two sides will sign off on the agreement at a “two-plus-two” meeting of their foreign and defense ministers to be held in Tokyo on Sept. 5.
Australia will be the second nation to sign such an agreement with Japan, after South Korea in September last year.
Under the envisaged agreement, Tokyo and Canberra will vow to share information during an emergency and coordinate their evacuation plans during peacetime.
In the event of an evacuation, Japan and Australia are expected to accept each other’s citizens to fill vacant seats on their respective chartered aircraft and buses.
Evacuation cooperation has been growing over the past few years.
In 2023, a Self-Defense Forces aircraft sent to evacuate Japanese nationals from areas affected by fighting between Israel and Palestinian group Hamas also accepted South Korean and Vietnamese nationals.
Japanese nationals were on an aircraft sent by the Australian government to evacuate its nationals amid unrest in France’s New Caledonia in May last year.
At the envisioned two-plus-two meeting, Japan and Australia are expected to agree to expand security cooperation, with China’s increasing influence on Pacific island nations in mind.
They are also seen working on inking a formal contract over the Royal Australian Navy’s planned introduction of an upgraded version of the Japanese Maritime SDF’s Mogami-class frigate.
