ISLAMABAD, August 6 (INP): Defence Minister of Japan KONO had a video teleconference with General Qamar Javed Bajwa, Chief of Army Staff on Thursday, says Japanese embassy's press release. During the video teleconference, the two sides exchanged views on issues such as the role of the defense authorities during the global spread of COVID-19. Minister Kono explained the Japan Self-Defense Forces’ activities on the cruise ship Diamond Princess, activities to take measures at the airport and to prevent community spread infection. He also talked about the infection-preventative measures undertaken in their operation which resulted in having no deployed member infected with the virus. General Bajwa also explained the recent activities and measures taken in Pakistan. Furthermore, the two parties exchanged views on defense cooperation between Japan and Pakistan. And Minister Kono pointed out the importance of both countries’ maintaining seamless defense posture and continued and strengthened bilateral defense cooperation to uphold and reinforce the Free and Open Indo-Pacific taking into consideration the implication of COVID-19. The two parties agreed on the three points bearing in mind the circumstances arisen by the spread of COVID-19; sharing information, knowledge and lessons learned about the measures taken by the defense authorities towards overcoming COVID-19 at the earliest stage; necessity of sharing threat recognition based on the current circumstances and potential effects of the spread of COVID-19 on defense policy of each country. They also discussed matters promoting vigorously defense cooperation and exchanges while maintaining communication between the defense authorities. INP/javed