Japan, US to revise defence cooperation guidelines

Japan and the United States are set to issue their revised defense cooperation guidelines when their defense and foreign ministers meet Monday in New York for security talks, with the two allies likely to agree on how to deal with the changing regional security environment.

The first updating of the guidelines in 18 years will be finalized during the "two-plus-two" meeting in New York involving Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida and Defense Minister Gen Nakatani and their U.S. counterparts -- Secretary of State John Kerry and Defense Secretary Ashton Carter, according to Japan's (Kyodo) News Agency.

The four are expected to discuss ways to strengthen their bilateral alliance through the Japanese Self-Defense Forces' greater cooperation with the U.S. military by getting rid of geographical constraints for SDF activities and ensuring their forces can deal with the changing security environment in a "seamless" manner from peacetime to contingencies.