Japan-United Kingdom Relations
Telephone Talk between Japanese and British Prime Ministers
On January 22nd, from 7:15pm for approximately ten minutes, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had a telephone talk with Prime Minister of the UK, David Cameron MP. The outline of the talk was as follows.
1. Prime Minister Cameron stated that at this difficult time he stood with Japan and that he was ready to provide any assistance he could, including sharing of information, with regards to the hostage situation of Japanese nationals.
2. In response, Prime Minister Abe thanked Prime Minister Cameron for his call and made following points:
(1) The ISIL has released a video on the internet announcing its intent to kill Japanese individuals. A threat of this kind in exchange of peoples’ lives is unacceptable, and I feel strong indignation.
(2) The assistance of 200 million dollars, which I announced during my recent visit to the Middle East, is to make as much contribution as possible in the non-military areas, such as to provide assistance to the refugees.
(3) Japan asks for continued support in collecting information on facts of the situation and the cooperation towards early release of the Japanese individuals.
(4) Japan will not succumb to terrorism, and will contribute to the international community’s fight against terrorism. Japan remains committed to contributing even further to the peace and stability of the Middle East, in collaboration with the international community. I would like to continue working closely together.
3. The two leaders welcomed the success of the UK-Japan Foreign Defense ministers’ meeting, which was held based on an agreement between the two leaders.
