Japanese Foreign Minister Iwaya Says NATO Asia Is An Idea For The Future

Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya. (Wikimedia Commons/)

JAKARTA - Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya said on Wednesday that the idea of NATO Asia being rolled out by Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba was one that needed to be considered in the medium to long term, but would not have happened in the near future.

Asian countries have expressed skepticism and reluctance in responding to calls from Prime Minister Ishiba, who took office on Tuesday.

"I think it's one of the ideas for the future," among efforts to create a layered network of countries of the same mind and improve regional prevention, Foreign Minister Iwaya told a news conference in Tokyo.

"It is difficult to immediately prepare a mechanism that will impose joint defense obligations in Asia, so this is more of a vision for the future," he continued.

Earlier, in a paper for the Hudson Institute's think tank in September, Ishiba argued to lock Washington into "NATO Asia" as a way to prevent China from using military force in Asia.

"The absence of a collective defense system like NATO in Asia means war is likely to occur due to the lack of an obligation to defend each other," he wrote.

However, Ishiba doubled his idea on Friday, saying in a press conference "the relative decline in US powers" made Asian agreement organizations needed.

On Tuesday, Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar denied that South Asia did not have the same vision for "NATO Asia", saying the country was never an ally of other countries and took a different approach.

The United States also quietly dismissed the idea.

"It's too early to talk about this," said Daniel Kritenbrink, Assistant Secretary of the US Foreign Affairs for East Asia and the Pacific, last month.

Such a framework will not be aimed at certain countries, Foreign Minister Iwaya said when asked at Wednesday's press conference if it was targeting China.

"The best way is to establish a defense and security cooperation relationship that includes the Indo-Pacific without excluding certain countries," said Foreign Minister Iwaya.

Meanwhile, Defense Minister General Nakaati said at a separate press conference, PM Ishiba had not asked his ministry to submit a proposal to form a NATO equivalent to Asia.