Japan said on Tuesday it would give Afghanistan up to $5 billion in new aid, a package Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama hopes will improve strained security ties with Washington ahead of U.S. President Barack Obama”s visit this week.
Tokyo and Washington have feuded over plans to relocate a U.S. military base on Japan”s southern island of Okinawa as part of a broad reorganization of U.S. troops, raising concerns about the security alliance between the world”s two biggest economies.
It is the first big test of ties between Washington and a new Japanese government that wants a more equal relationship with its closest security ally.
Hatoyama is expected to present the aid package to Obama, who is reviewing U.S. strategy for Afghanistan, at a summit on Friday in Tokyo, Japanese officials said. The aid would be delivered over five years.
Both sides have said the row over the relocation of the Futenma air base would not be the main focus of the talks on Friday, but Hatoyama is under pressure to make a decision soon. The dispute threatens to stall a realignment of the 47,000 U.S. military personnel in Japan.
