Tokyo: Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull will attend a meeting of Japan's National Security Council when he arrives in Tokyo on Thursday, Japanese media has reported.
The NSC was formed under Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, and will take the lead role in "crafting Japan's military build up", the Japan Times separately reported this month.
China News Service, citing Japanese media, said Turnbull has been invited to attend a special meeting of the NSC as Japan seeks to expand security cooperation with Australia and build trust.
A source from Abe's office was quoted as saying Australia was a "quasi ally", and had been invited to the NSC which was the "control tower of security policy".
The Japanese media report said the move would "highlight" the relationship between Japan and Australia to outsiders.
Abe wants to share the importance of the framework between Japan, Australia, the United States and India, the Japanese report said.
The revival of the "quad" at a meeting of officials at the sidelines of APEC in Vietnam in November has revived the debate over whether the grouping would be seen by China as an attempt to contain China's rise.
Japanese news agency Kyodo reported last month that Turnbull's visit to Japan would aim to bolster bilateral security cooperation by striking in principle agreement on a new pact.
The envisioned "visiting forces agreement" is aimed at facilitating joint drills amid the growing military threat from North Korea and China's maritime assertiveness in the East and South China, said the Japanese report.
The agreement would allow the two countries to bring military equipment and ammunition onto each other's soil more easily when the Japanese Self-Defense Forces and the Australian military conduct exercises.The NSC has its own secretariat and is chaired by the prime minister and attended by the chief Cabinet secretary, the defense minister and the foreign minister to discuss mid- to long-term security policies.
Tensions between China and Japan have risen in recent days after the Japanese foreign minister complained about the appearance of a stealth Chinese submarine off waters surrounding the disputed Senkaku Islands (known as Diaoyu in China).
Comment has been sought from Turnbull's office.
