Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Mr. Ambassador, thank you for being with us today. We truly appreciate it. I would also like to thank your hardworking associates.
After the publication of Canada's Indo-Pacific Strategy, we have been interested in how other countries view the Indo-Pacific region, especially the United States. We went to Washington to meet with our counterparts of the equivalent committee of the U.S. Congress to discuss their strategy for the Indo-Pacific region. Those discussions must continue.
Looking at Japan's new plan for a free and open Indo-Pacific, however, we note that its second pillar involves a new focus on co-operation by addressing the current challenges in an Indo-Pacific way, specifically by establishing equal partnership among countries.
For our information, how are we to understand the Japanese perspective on the Indo-Pacific way?