Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte agreed during a telephone conversation on Tuesday to strengthen cooperation among Indo-Pacific partners that also include Australia, New Zealand and South Korea.

Ishiba expressed hope that the official launch in Brussels last week of the Mission of Japan to NATO will become a catalyst for further cooperation with the military alliance, saying that the security of the Euro-Atlantic and the Indo-Pacific is increasingly "inseparable," the Foreign Ministry said.

Ishiba, who congratulated Rutte on his assuming of the post in October, discussed with the NATO secretary general issues that like-minded nations need to jointly tackle, such as Russia's war in Ukraine, according to the ministry.

NATO has been increasing its commitment to the Indo-Pacific region at a time of growing concerns about China's assertiveness.