Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and her Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida agreed at a meeting on Tuesday to strengthen ties in a range of spheres including the economy, trade and defence, the leaders said.
"We have agreed to elevate our relations to the level of a strategic partnership," Meloni told reporters in a brief statement after the meeting in Rome.
The partnership would entail a mechanism of bilateral consultations on foreign policy and defence which will cover "all the areas of global and regional themes of mutual interest," Meloni added.
Among the fields of heightened cooperation, Kishida, speaking through an interpreter, cited diplomacy, investment, railways and cinema.
The Japanese leader began a tour of key Western partners on Monday after unveiling his country's biggest military buildup since World War Two as Tokyo weighs steps to counter China's growing power.
Kishida hosts a summit of the Group of Seven (G7) industrial powers in May, which he said would reiterate the G7's commitment to helping Ukraine in its efforts to repel Russia's invasion and also focus on the security of the Indo-Pacific region.
Last month Japan, Italy and Britain announced the Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP) venture to develop by 2035 a next generation jet which would combine the British-led Tempest project with Japan's F-X programme.
Kishida said he hoped this accord would help stimulate industrial cooperation between Italy and Japan and "lay the foundations for medium- and long-term bilateral cooperation between the two countries on security issues".
(This story has been refiled to remove a typo in the lead)
(Reporting by Gavin Jones, editing by Crispian Balmer)
