Press Releases
Meeting between Senior Deputy Minister NAMAZU and Canadian Assistant Deputy Minister Arbeiter
January 20, 2026
On January 19 in Tokyo, Mr. NAMAZU Hiroyuki, Senior Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan, held a meeting with Mr. Richard Arbeiter, Assistant Deputy Minister for International Security and Political Affairs at Global Affairs Canada. The overview of the meeting is as follows:
- Senior Deputy Minister NAMAZU stated his intention to cooperate closely towards realizing a "Free and Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP)". Senior Deputy Minister NAMAZU and Assistant Deputy Minister Arbeiter concurred to further strengthen bilateral cooperation across various areas.
- Senior Deputy Minister NAMAZU and Assistant Deputy Minister Arbeiter had a broad exchange of views on regional situations, including the Indo-Pacific, the Americas, the Middle East, and Ukraine. Senior Deputy Minister NAMAZU expressed his expectation to strengthen cooperation on priority issues in the Indo-Pacific region, including their policies toward North Korea including on the abductions issue, the nuclear and missile issues as well as cryptocurrency thefts, responses to various actions by China, and the promotion of a free and fair international economic order.
- Senior Deputy Minister NAMAZU and Assistant Deputy Minister Arbeiter also exchanged views on strengthening of the supply chains for critical minerals such as rare earths, and Senior Deputy Minister NAMAZU expressed his expectation to deepen cooperation in a wide range of fields.
- Senior Deputy Minister NAMAZU paid tribute to Canada's leadership and outcome at last year's G7 Presidency and both concurred that Japan and Canada will continue to cooperate closely within the framework of the G7 under this year’s French presidency.