The 69th anniversary of Japan’s Self-Defense Forces was celebrated at a gathering in Riyadh on Wednesday.
Fumio Iwai, Tokyo’s ambassador in the Kingdom, hosted the event at his residence in the capital.
Those in attendance included Maj. Gen. Abdullah Mohammed Al-Qahtany, assistant director-general of the engineering department at the Royal Saudi Air Defense Force, and several government officials and diplomats.
In his speech, Iwai noted that the JSDF has contributed significantly to security in the world through the UN.
In terms of relations with Saudi Arabia, he highlighted the summit meeting earlier this year between Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.
He also highlighted the visit to Japan of Saudi Arabia’s Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman.
Through these high-level visits, Japan and the Kingdom had agreed to further strengthen defense and security cooperation. And as a part of the cooperation, last month Saudi military officers joined a defense training and exchange program in Japan.
Iwai said Japan remained committed to ensuring respect for international human rights law, which was entrenched in its National Security Strategy adopted last year.