Canada eyes deeper security ties with Japan and other 'middle powers' in Indo-Pacific
Ottawa and Tokyo find themselves on the same page amid intensifying great power competition, with Canada’s defense minister saying his country also aims to boost military and defense-industrial ties with like-minded Indo-Pacific partners as regional security tensions surge.“We are systematically reaching out to countries like Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, Australia, and New Zealand; we are consolidating those relationships and making our own presence better felt in the region,” David McGuinty, who accompanied Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on a two-day Tokyo visit this past weekend, told The Japan Times on Saturday.“We are a Pacific nation. We are a maritime nation, and so we're carefully tracking what's going on in the region,” the defense minister said in an exclusive interview as Ottawa looks to expand its Indo-Pacific footprint.
