Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi speaks to reporters in Tokyo following phone talks with her new British counterpart Andy Burnham on Aug. 20, 2026. (Kyodo)
TOKYO (Kyodo) — Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and Britain’s new leader Andy Burnham agreed Thursday in their first talks to continue promoting cooperation in defense, cutting-edge technologies and economic security.
The two prime ministers also shared the view that security in the Euro-Atlantic and Indo-Pacific regions is “inseparable,” Takaichi told reporters in Tokyo after the roughly 30-minute phone conversation.
Takaichi said she will work with Burnham, who took office a month ago, to elevate the bilateral relationship to “even greater heights” and that Japan will work closely with Britain as “enhanced global strategic partners.”
The two countries, both close U.S. allies, have been boosting their security ties in recent years in the face of China’s rise and Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, including through a trilateral project with Italy to jointly develop a next-generation fighter jet by 2035.
They have also been pursuing deeper economic cooperation following Britain’s departure from the European Union in 2020 and its accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, a Japan-led free trade pact, in 2024.