... The president and Mr Abe discussed ongoing efforts to enhance bilateral security cooperation as well as deepening economic ties... "
Washington (ANTARA News) - US President Barack Obama called Japan's incoming prime minister Shinzo Abe on Monday following his election win, with both sides stressing the importance of close ties, the White House said.

Abe, a former prime minister who is the head of the conservative opposition Liberal Democratic Party, and Obama reaffirmed the importance of the US-Japan alliance as the cornerstone of peace and security in the region, it said.

"The president and Mr Abe discussed ongoing efforts to enhance bilateral security cooperation as well as deepening economic ties," White House spokesman Jay Carney said in a statement. In the recent time Japan facing a warmer relationship with China due to the Senkaku Island that also claimed by China.

"They also agreed on the importance of close US-Japan cooperation on pressing regional and global issues."

Abe's Liberal Democrats crushed the ruling Democratic Party of Japan in Sunday's polls. The LDP and its junior coalition party New Komeito secured a large enough majority in Japan's lower house to overrule the upper chamber.

(H-RN)

Editor: Ade P Marboen
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