INTERVIEW: Iwaya Says Not to Rush for U.S. Troops Pact Revision

   Tokyo, Nov. 1 (Jiji Press)--Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya has indicated a need for carefully dealing with the issue of revising the Japan-U.S. status of forces agreement, as advocated by Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba.
   In an interview with media organizations including Jiji Press on Thursday, Iwaya also sounded cautious about the idea of creating an Asian version of NATO, which has also been proposed by Ishiba.
   Although considerable progress has been made in the operations of the bilateral pact that governs U.S. troops stationed in Japan, there are still some issues that need to be addressed, Iwaya said.
   "Rather than rushing into action, we will exchange opinions (with the U.S. side) while carefully analyzing the current situation," he said.
   Regarding an Asian version of NATO, Iwaya said that "the Indo-Pacific region should have a large security umbrella in the future."

(2024/11/01-16:30)

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