The Philippines, Japan and the United States have discussed possibilities to conduct joint multilateral maritime exercises in the waters of the Indo-Pacific as national security advisers of the three countries met for the first time to tackle "unilateral attempts" to change the region's status quo. This came as Philippine National Security Adviser Eduardo Año and his Japanese and US counterparts, Akiba Takeo and Jake Sullivan, held talks in Tokyo on Friday, June 16, for their countries' concrete approach on improving trilateral cooperation. Japan, through its top diplomat in Manila, Ambassador Koshikawa Kazuhiko, called the meeting a "historic milestone." Photo courtesy of Japanese Ambassador to the Philippines Koshikawa Kazuhiko

Necessary actions may be in the East and the South China Seas and the waters off North Korea as Año, Takeo and Sullivan discussed security challenges, a White House readout said. Joint cooperation is necessary as the three asserted the importance to maintain peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific. "Also, they concurred that a free and open maritime order, characterized by freedom of navigation, and a free, fair, and equitable economic order are essential in the Indo-Pacific, especially given unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force or coercion," the readout added. Apart from new maritime cooperation through naval exercises in the Indo-Pacific waters, the three countries "resolved to advance trilateral defense cooperation based on the recent progress" between the Philippines and the US through new Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) sites and between the Philippines and Japan  in discussing frameworks to reciprocate visits of defense and military officials. Security advisers of the three countries also agreed to boost efforts to promote Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA) by utilizing Japan’s new "Official Security Assistance (OSA)" cooperation framework, the QUAD’s Indo-Pacific Partnership for Maritime Domain Awareness (IPMDA) and other capacity building measures. Manila, Tokyo and Washington's joint action came as China continues to show its force in the Indo-Pacific region and aggression over the South China Sea. More cooperation on humanitarian and disaster assistance as well as on the promotion of economic security and fight against economic coercion are also expected from the three countries. The three security advisers "decided to convene additional trilateral exchanges in the coming months among the National Security Secretariat of Japan, the National Security Council staff of the United States, and the National Security Council Secretariat of the Philippines, to further expand cooperation and information-sharing," the readout stated.