TOKYO (AP) — Defense ministers from Japan and Britain hailed their “deep strategic alignment” on Thursday as a Royal Navy aircraft carrier made a historic port call in Tokyo.

The HMS Prince of Wales, which heads a 12-nation carrier strike group of 4,000 servicemembers on an eight-month deployment in the region, is the first foreign aircraft carrier to visit the city, U.K. Defense Secretary John Healey told a joint news conference.

“We are proud to be taking our air and our naval cooperation now to new levels,” Healey said after holding talks at Japan’s Defense Ministry with his counterpart, Gen Nakatani.

The strategic cooperation with Japan is part of the U.K.’s commitment to be more engaged in the economy and security in the Indo-Pacific.

“Japan and the U.K. are the closest security p

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