The Japanese national flag waves at the Bank of Japan building in Tokyo, March 18, 2024. - Photo: Reuters file
TOKYO: (Bernama-Kyodo) -- Japan plans to supply defence equipment to Thailand, Tonga and six other nations in the current fiscal year as security aid, a government source said Friday (June 20), in bid to ensure safe sea lanes in the Indo-Pacific region where China is evolving its military posture.
According to Kyodo news agency the eight countries -- also including East Timor, Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines and Sri Lanka -- are expected to be designated as the recipients of Japan's "official security assistance" (OSA) framework, designed for like-minded partners, for fiscal 2025 from April, the source said.
The government is considering providing them Japanese-made drones to help in their natural disaster relief and maritime surveillance missions, according to the source.
Japan launched the OSA scheme in April 2023 to help developing countries strengthen their defence capabilities amid security concerns such as the Chinese forces' increasing assertiveness at sea and in the air.
In the past two fiscal years through 2024, Bangladesh, Djibouti, Fiji, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mongolia and the Philippines were recipients of the assistance programme.
In May, Japan gave the Fiji navy a rescue boat and surveillance equipment, in its first delivery under the OSA framework.
In its fiscal 2025 initial budget, Japan earmarked 8.1 billion yen (US$56 million) for OSA assistance, up from 2 billion yen in fiscal 2023 and 5 billion yen in fiscal 2024. - Bernama-Kyodo
