ANKARA

Japan and NATO have vowed to build on "concrete cooperation" to strengthen their bilateral relations, according to a statement issued by the Foreign Ministry in Tokyo on Thursday.

Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya met with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte on the fringes of the UN General Assembly session in New York on Wednesday to discuss bilateral relations.

Both sides reaffirmed a shared understanding among like-minded countries that the security of the Euro-Atlantic and Indo-Pacific regions is inextricably linked and agreed to expand on concrete cooperation to strengthen Japan-NATO relations.

Iwaya said Rutte's visit to Tokyo in April and Admiral Giuseppe Cavo Dragone, chair of the NATO Military Committee, this month are clear examples of the "remarkable progress" made in Japan-NATO relations in recent years.

In response, Rutte emphasized the strategic importance of cooperation between Japan and NATO, as well as NATO and the Indo-Pacific Partners (Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and the Republic of Korea), and praised Japan-NATO progress in an array of fields.

*Writing by Aamir Latif