Britain will return an aircraft carrier to the Pacific as part of a carrier strike group in 2025, Downing Street said Thursday as British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is in Japan. HMS Queen Elizabeth crossed the Pacific Ocean in 2021, calling at Japan, as Western allies try to counter China's growing military power in the region.
Sunak, who is in Japan for the G7 summit in Hiroshima, first stopped in Tokyo to visit a naval base, where he announced Britain would double the number of British troops in upcoming joint exercises.
London and Tokyo will also agree on a formal "consultation clause", committing them to discuss regional and global security issues and measures that could be taken. Sunak said the carrier strike group will "work alongside the Japan Self-Defense Forces and other regional partners to help defend peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific."
"Hiroshima Agreement"
He is due to hold talks in Hiroshima on Thursday with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, with the two men expected to announce the "Hiroshima Agreement". This will include agreements on defence, trade, science and technology, but also issues such as climate change, Downing Street said, without elaborating.
The G7 summit, from 19 to 21 May, comes "at a pivotal moment, as Ukraine redoubles its efforts in its fight for survival and we face complex threats to global peace and prosperity," the British Prime Minister said in mid-May. He also said Britain would "galvanize international action on economic coercion by hostile states and strengthen support for Ukraine."
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