TOKYO--Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya and his Philippine counterpart, Enrique Manalo, agreed Wednesday to deepen cooperation among the two countries and the United States to promote a free and open Indo-Pacific.

The top diplomats agreed to hold maritime consultations and a vice-ministerial strategic dialogue by the end of this year.

They welcomed the start of discussions on an information protection agreement and of negotiations on an acquisition and cross-servicing agreement, following a summit between Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. last month.

Iwaya and Manalo also confirmed their cooperation to help Japanese-Filipinos who were left behind in the Philippines after the end of World War II and became stateless to gain Japanese nationality.

Also on Wednesday, Iwaya separately met with Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Prak Sokhonn. The two agreed to work on maintaining and strengthening the multilateral free trade system, with the increasingly protectiveist stance of the administration of US President Donald Trump in mind. JIJI