Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio has reaffirmed with his Malaysian counterpart that the two nations will strengthen their security cooperation.
Kishida met with Anwar Ibrahim at the Malaysian Prime Minister's office near the capital Kuala Lumpur for about two hours on Sunday.
The two leaders agreed to promote bilateral diplomatic and security dialogue to tighten security cooperation with China's increased military assertiveness at sea in mind.
They also confirmed that their countries should accelerate coordination for the use of Japan's new security assistance framework called the Official Security Assistance, or OSA, which is designed to provide military equipment and supplies to like-minded countries.
They also agreed to economic cooperation, including the promotion of better conditions for investment and decarbonization.
They also discussed the situation in the East and South China Seas and Ukraine.
They shared the stance that they will not tolerate any attempts to unilaterally change the status quo anywhere in the world.
On the conflict between Israel and Hamas, Kishida called for the conflict to be stopped from spilling over to neighboring countries and for prompt de-escalation and mitigation measures for the humanitarian crisis.
After the talks, Kishida told reporters that Anwar will visit Japan next month, when Tokyo hosts a summit with ASEAN leaders.
He said he looks forward to stronger relations not just with ASEAN, but also bilaterally with Malaysia.