Current Affairs Exam

Japan and Australia will sign a DEFENCE agreement to boost security and defence cooperation. The signing of the agreement is considered historic. This is to anger China. The agreement is to expand Quad agenda. The agreement will reduce Chinese influence in ASEAN. It will aid in achieving free and open Indo Pacific.

The agreement includes sharing military facilities between the countries, landing rights, securing port access, logistic support, legal regimes, logistic support. This means the advanced F-35s (fighter jet) of Japan can now practice in Australian . The

Australian submarines can now operate in Japanese waters. The countries can build special forces together. Both Japan and Australia share a common interest of keeping the US engaged in the Indo Pacific.

The ASEAN countries are important for both Japan and Australia. China is trying to break ASEAN countries away from world countries. China is also trying to weaken their regional cooperation. According

to Japan and Australia, the diplomatic efforts like that of the defence agreement will stop China from turning ASEAN into its business clients.

North Korea fired a hypersonic missile on January 5, 2022, that successfully hit a target.

It was North Koreas second such test, as the country pursues new military capabilities because of stalled denuclearisation talks.

The launch by North Korea was the first since October 2021.

It was detected by several militaries in the region.

However,

this test drew criticismfrom governments in the United States, Japan and South Korea.

North Korea had first tested a hypersonic missile in September 2021 and joined a race headed by major military powers for deploying the advanced weapons system.