Joe Biden and Japanese PM Yoshihide Suga agree to strengthen Japan-US alliance

United States President-elect Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga have agreed to strengthen the Japan-U.S. alliance and work together on battling the coronavirus pandemic and climate change in their first phone talks on Thursday.

According to sources, Yoshihide Suga said that he congratulated Biden on winning last week's election against President Donald Trump and conveyed his desire to cooperate to realize a "free and open Indo-Pacific" region.

"The alliance is crucial amid the increasingly difficult security environment surrounding Japan, as well as for the peace and prosperity of the international community," said Suga.

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Joe Biden affirmed Washington's commitment to defending the Senkaku Islands under a 1960 bilateral security treaty.

Suga also said that the group of uninhabited islets in the East China Sea are administered by Tokyo but claimed by Beijing, which calls them Diaoyu and often sends coast guard ships nearby in an attempt to assert control.

The president-elect, "underscored his deep commitment to the defense of Japan and U.S. commitments under Article 5," his team said in a statement.

Yoshihide Suga is eagerly seen to establish a relationship with Biden, who will become commander-in-chief of Japan's key ally at a time of growing Chinese maritime assertiveness and concerns over North Korea's nuclear weapons program.

Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said he asked for support for Japan's efforts to retrieve citizens abducted by North Korean agents in the 1970s and 1980s.

Biden has also vowed to bring the United States back into the Paris Agreement on curbing greenhouse gas emissions, and he and Suga are both aiming to make their countries carbon neutral by 2050.

The Prime Minister said he agreed with Biden to meet in person "as soon as possible," with government sources saying that Suga is likely to visit the United States after the president-elect takes office on Jan. 20.

Joe Biden till now has already held phone talks with some of the world leaders including those from Canada, France, Britain and Germany. He also spoke with South Korean President Moon Jae In and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Thursday.

Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga on Sunday also tweeted his congratulations to Biden and running mate Kamala Harris, who will become the first female U.S. vice president.

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