His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, received General Koji Yamazaki, Chief-of-Staff, Joint Staff of the Japan Self-Defense Forces, and his accompanying delegation at the Beach Palace in Abu Dhabi.
During the meeting, the two sides reviewed current cooperation between the two countries, particularly in the defense and military sectors. They emphasized the importance of enhancing said ties for the benefit of the two countries, Emirates News Agency WAM reported.
Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed and General Yamazaki also exchanged views on regional and global affairs of mutual interest.
Mohammed bin Ahmed Al Bowardi, Minister of State for Defense Affairs, Lt. General Eng. Issa Saif bin Ablan Al Mazrouei, Deputy Chief-of-Staff of the Armed Forces, Mohamed Mubarak Al Mazrouei, Under-Secretary of the Abu Dhabi Crown Prince's Court, and Akihiko Nakajima, Ambassador of Japan to the UAE, also attended the meeting.
Earlier, Major General Sheikh Saeed bin Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Nahyan, Commander of the UAE Naval Forces, also met with General Koji Yamazaki, Chief-of-Staff, Joint Staff of the Japan Self-Defense Forces.
During the meeting, the two sides reviewed existing ties between the two countries. They also exchanged views of various issues of mutual interest, particularly those related to the maritime sector.
Senior naval officers and a Japanese delegation accompanying General Yamazaki were also present during the meeting.
For his part, Brigadier Rashid Saeed Al Shehhi, Deputy Commander of the UAE Land Forces, also met with the visiting Japanese Chief-of-Staff.
The meeting comes within the framework of the two parties’ keenness to review current developments and exchange views on a number of issues of mutual concern.
During the meeting, Al Shehhi and Yamazaki emphasized the strength and depth of the special relations between the two friendly countries.
Japan is drastically reforming its defense organizations to deal with new combat situations that require a combination of conventional warfare and the new domains of space, cyberspace and the electromagnetic spectrum, a top Japanese defense official told WAM on Monday.
There is potential for further defense cooperation with the UAE in such new areas, according to the visiting General Koji Yamazaki, Chief-of-Staff, Joint Staff of the Japan Self-Defense Forces.
“We believe that we need to establish more effective defense capabilities. We are not going to stick to conventional ideas on combat situations,” he said in an exclusive interview during his first official visit to the UAE since assuming his post on 1st April this year.
Japan is undertaking a program of drastic and speedy reform of the country’s defense organizations to establish the capability to deal with the multi-domain battlefield, Yamazaki said.
“We issued new national defense program guidelines in December last year, which define the need to establish multi-domain defense force, which is critical to us to deal with the new combat situation which is the combination of conventional ground, maritime and air forces and the new domains of space, cyberspace and electromagnetic spectrum,” he said.
“I believe that there will be further potential in defense cooperation between Japan and the UAE in new areas,” Yamazaki said. He did not mention any specific areas.
The veteran defense official said the Japan Self-Defense Forces have enjoyed a very good relationship with the UAE forces through personnel exchanges and various other exchange programs.
“We are going to expand these relations including in the exchange of defense equipment and technologies,” he noted.
