The White House said on Wednesday that the United States appreciates the Japanese government's decision to provide five billion dollars to Afghanistan, adding that President Barack Obama looks forward to renewing strong alliance with Japan.
Ahead of Obama's scheduled visit to Japan, the Japanese government announced on Tuesday that it would provide approximately five billion dollars over the next five years to Afghanistan and will implement swiftly its pledge of one billion dollars for economic assistance to Pakistan.
"The United States appreciates all that Japan has done to assist in the stabilization and reconstruction of Afghanistan and welcomes Japan's renewed commitment to development assistance for this international effort," said a White House statement.
"As President Obama prepares to travel to Japan this week, he looks forward to renewing our strong alliance with Japan, and discussing our continued partnership on Afghanistan, Pakistan and critical bilateral issues," said the statement.