Japan on Wednesday unveiled guidelines for a new program to strengthen the militaries of like-minded countries by providing ¡°official security assistance¡± ¡ª a move that breaks with its previous policy of avoiding the use of development aid for military purposes other than disaster relief.
First announced in last December¡¯s revised National Security Strategy (NSS), the new OSA framework will initially provide equipment, supplies and infrastructure development assistance to partner countries in the form of grants, rather than loans, in a bid to reinforce what Tokyo describes as the region¡¯s ¡°comprehensive defense architecture.¡±
Foreign Ministry officials say the Philippines will be one of the first beneficiaries of OSA, with Malaysia, Bangladesh and Fiji also among those being considered.
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