WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — US Secretary of State John Kerry and Secretary of Defense Aston Carter will meet with their Japanese counterparts in New York City on Monday where they will reveal a transformation in US-Japan relations, a senior White House official said during a press call on Friday.
“On Monday in New York City there be a historic 2+2 meeting with Secretaries Carter and Kerry that will announce some historic changes to the way the US-Japan alliance operates,” NSC Senior Director for Asian Affairs Evan Medeiros said.
On Friday, the White House hosted a call to preview the agenda of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s official visit to Washington, DC next week.
Carter and Abe met in Tokyo on April 9, 2015, and discussed opportunities for the United States and Japan to cooperate on security issues, including pandemic crisis response and humanitarian aid.
On April 6, 2015, the US Defense Department announced it would locate 60 percent of its military fleet to the Pacific-Indian Ocean, with the newest and most capable weapons systems first going to the Asia-Pacific region.