The announcement was made in Tokyo on Friday by EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell and Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya, and comes amid rising tensions in the region over China, Russia and North Korea.

The partnership is aimed at increasing joint development of military equipment and combined military drills.

Borrell said: “It’s a historical and very timely step given the situation in both of our regions. This political framework deepens our ability to tackle emerging threats together and towards a future where our values, our common values, of democracy, human rights under rules-based international order, will continue to guide our way.”

He added that Japan is the EU’s closest partner in the Indo-Pacific region, and that bilateral relations between Tokyo and Brussels have never been closer.

The signing of the partnership comes a day after North Korea conducted its longest ever intercontinental ballistic missile test, further heating up tensions in the region.

In a social media post, Borrell said: “We reaffirmed the need for strengthened EU-Japan cooperation in security and defense, including on maritime security, cyber and hybrid threats, amid growing regional and global security challenges.”

In recent years Japan, despite a constitution that renounces war, has boosted its defense industry in its largest post-war military expansion, expressing concern about threats from Asian neighbors China and North Korea.

Japan signed a treaty last year to establish a program to develop an advanced fighter jet with Britain and Italy. It has also sought deeper defense cooperation with the United States to counter China’s increasing maritime assertiveness and has expressed concerns over potential instability in the Taiwan strait.