Japan, Netherlands to step up ties on Indo-Pacific The foreign ministers of Japan and the Netherlands have agreed to step up cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region. Japan's Motegi Toshimitsu and his Dutch counterpart Sigrid Kaag held talks for the first time on Monday in Matera, southern Italy, ahead of their colleagues' meeting of the Group of 20 major economies. Motegi said that he appreciated the Netherlands' policy concerning the Indo-Pacific region. The country last year issued its own guidelines for strengthening Dutch and EU cooperation with partners in Asia. Motegi added that Japan wants to further strengthen relations with the Netherlands, its strategic partner with which it shares basic common values.