Tokyo: Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya and his Philippine counterpart, Enrique Manalo, agreed to deepen cooperation between their countries and the United States to promote a free and open Indo-Pacific. According to Philippines News Agency, the top diplomats agreed to hold maritime consultations and a vice-ministerial strategic dialogue by the end of this year. They welcomed the start of discussions on an information protection agreement and negotiations on an acquisition and cross-servicing agreement, following a summit between Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. last month. Iwaya and Manalo also confirmed their cooperation to help Japanese-Filipinos who were left behind in the Philippines after the end of World War II and became stateless, to gain Japanese nationality. Additionally, on Wednesday, Iwaya held a separate meeting with Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Prak Sokhonn. The two agreed to work on maintaining and strengthening the multilateral free trade system, considering the increasingly protectionist stance of the administration of US President Donald Trump.