Mr. Kenjiro Monji Ambassador of Japan hosted a reception at his residence on the occasion of the appointment of Colonel Kiyoshi Sato, resident Defense Attaché at the Embassy of Japan in Kuwait, as a non-resident Defense Attaché in the Embassy of Japan in Qatar. Their Excellencies the Ambassadors, Officials from Qatar Armed Forces and military attachés of other countries attended the reception.
Ambassador Monji said that the appointment of Colonel Sato is timely since this year coincides with the 40th anniversary year of Japan-Qatar diplomatic relation, mentioning “Japan and Qatar agreed to diversify and expand our relations beyond economy, especially energy, to cover other areas including defense.”
Also, introducing some examples of Japan’s contribution to the peace and stability in the Gulf and the Middle East, such as the refueling operations in the Indian Ocean to support OEF, and the dispatch of destroyers and P-3C maritime patrol aircrafts to waters off the coast of Somalia and the Gulf of Aden to fight against piracy, Ambassador Monji said “against this background, the cooperation between Japan and Qatar in the area of security and defense has been gaining its importance.”
Ambassador Monji introduced some examples of cooperation between the two defense authorities which has made much progress recently; the acceptance by the Qatari side of the SDF trainees of Arabic language, the exchange of students between Qatar’s Military College and Japan’s National Defense Academy, high-level bilateral exchanges and staff-level talks both in Tokyo and Doha, and participation of Japan in seminars and exercises hosted by Qatar.
Colonel Sato, on his part, said that he is happy to be able to work in Qatar and said “In light of the growing importance of the Japan-Qatar bilateral relationship, I would like to work closely with officers in Qatar Armed Forces so as to further promote the bilateral cooperation in the field of defense.”
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