President Rajapaksa ends Japan visit agreeing to increase maritime security cooperation

President Mahinda Rajapaksa wound up a four-day official visit to Japan on Friday, with the two countries agreeing to increase maritime security cooperation between them.

President Rajapaksa met with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe last Thursday at a time of close economic relations between Sri Lanka and China, which has been viewed as matter for concern in Japan.

The visit also came at a time of heightened tensions between Japan and China over the disputed islands of Senkaku in the East China Sea.

A joint statement issued after the meeting said both leaders had acknowledged that “Japan and Sri Lanka had a responsibility to play important roles for the stability and prosperity of the Pacific and Indian Ocean regions.” Particular mention was made of Sri Lanka’s location on the Indian Ocean sea lanes, which enabled it to be a potential maritime hub of the region and thus “play a crucial and positive role within the international community.” According to the statement, Japan will provide Sri Lanka with about ¥41.1 billion (around Rs 55 billion) in loans and about ¥2.7 billion (around Rs 3.5 billion) in grants for infrastructure-building and disaster prevention.

The two leaders also confirmed that the ocean is a common resource under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), and decided to upgrade and expand bilateral discussion and cooperation, in order to effectively address maritime issues common to both countries.

The two leaders decided to promote cooperation and exchanges between the defense authorities in the field of maritime security such as anti-piracy, as well as expand cooperation between the coast guards in the field of capacity building such as maritime law enforcement, search and rescue (SAR), disaster prevention and environment protection.

While the two leaders reaffirmed their determination to strengthen cooperation for early reform of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), which would include the expansion of both permanent and non-permanent categories, President Rajapaksa reiterated his support for Japan’s permanent membership in the Security Council, for which Prime Minister Abe expressed appreciation.

They also expressed their grave concern over Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK)’s nuclear and missile development programmes, including uranium enrichment programme, and condemned in the strongest terms, its nuclear test on February 12, 2013, and missile launches in April and December 2012, as clear violations of relevant UNSC Resolutions.

Sri Lanka and Japan last year completed 60 years of diplomatic relations.