Overview

• In Tokyo on July 8, Minister Anita Anand and Japanese Foreign Minister Iwaya Takeshi signed the Security of Information Agreement to deepen defence and security collaboration between Canada and Japan.
• The pact builds on the Canada-Japan Action Plan and underlines steady trade growth supported by the CPTPP framework in the Indo-Pacific.
• Anand will attend the ASEAN Post Ministerial Conference Plus on July 10 and the 32nd ASEAN Regional Forum on July 11 in Kuala Lumpur to reinforce the ASEAN-Canada Strategic Partnership.
• Key topics at the ASEAN meetings include regional security challenges such as the crisis in Myanmar, tensions in the East and South China Seas, North Korea-Russia cooperation and instability in the Middle East.
• These engagements aim to prepare the ground for negotiations on an ASEAN-Canada free-trade agreement later this year as part of Canada’s broader $2.3 billion Indo-Pacific Strategy.