TOKYO: Japan and the United States called on Saturday for a strengthening of their alliance as Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and new US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth attended a ceremony marking the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Iwo Jima. The tiny island of Iwo Jima in the Pacific Ocean lies around 1,250 kilometres (780 miles) from Tokyo.
"I'd like to pay my respects to the souls of those who fought for our country on Iwo Jima and renew our pledge to peace," Ishiba said at the joint Japan-US memorial service on the island. "I'd also like to reiterate our determination to keep the preciousness of peace in our hearts and to raise the US-Japan alliance, which brings peace and prosperity to the world, to new heights."
"The US-Japan alliance shows those brave men of 1945 how yesterday's enemy has become today's friend," Hegseth said. "Our alliance has been and remains the cornerstone of freedom, prosperity, security and peace in the Indo-Pacific, and it will continue." — AFP
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