The new declaration will work to complement the new Japan-Australia Reciprocal Access Agreement, according to the ABC, which is an agreement designed to facilitate joint training and strengthening interoperability.

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Speaking to the Guardian Australia this week, Japan’s envoy in Canberra Shingo Yamagami said the two nations would share intelligence assessments about China’s military build-up and intentions as part of the new pact.

Japan’s expertise and insights on China’s intentions were “sought after by our Five Eyes partners”, including Australia, Yamagami said.

“I’m quite sure this visit and this joint declaration to be signed by the two prime ministers will serve as an indispensable catalyst to enhanced intelligence cooperation,” Guardian Australia quoted him as saying.

Beijing accused Canberra of “maliciously spreading disinformation” about the former while claiming that the Chinese military was carrying out operations in accordance with international law in the latter case, while warning Australia to respect China’s national security interests to avoid potential “serious consequences”.

Describing Japan and Australia’s relationship as moving from strength to strength, Charles Edel, Australia chair and senior adviser at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies based in Washington DC, said the new declaration was likely to help codify the importance of that relationship to both countries.

“Canberra and Tokyo, both concerned about China’s coercive actions, find themselves increasingly aligned in their strategic outlooks and in their willingness to work together,” Edel said.

The declaration which follows the reciprocal access agreement both countries signed earlier this year also underscores “a strategic convergence and should deepen their security and economic cooperation in several practical ways”, Edel added.

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Satoru Nagao, a non-resident fellow at the Washington-based Hudson Institute, said there was a need to update the 2007 agreement, which largely focuses on law enforcement, border security, counter- terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

Noting that Japan and Australia are cooperating in the area of maritime security, Nagao added that both countries are also planning to possess long-range cruise missiles launched from submarines.

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Noting that these allies had also sought to upgrade their own strategic relationships among each other, Corben added the issuing of the security declaration “clearly fits within that trend”.

“It will be one of the clearest signs yet that the two countries are set on modernising their relationship to meet pressing strategic challenges in the Indo-Pacific, both together and in collaboration with third parties like the US and India,” he said.

Corben said that apart from upgrading existing mechanisms on security cooperation, the declaration would expand bilateral cooperation across a number of areas, including “breaking new ground” in areas like energy security and science and technology cooperation.

For example, the Japan-Australia Information Security Agreement would be updated to strengthen bilateral intelligence sharing and cooperation in areas like space and defence technology co-development, Corben added.

Corben added that deeper Australia-Japan ties would also complement the emerging cooperation in the Australia-India and Japan-India relationships.

“After all, in many ways the Quad is only as strong as its constituent bilateral and trilateral relationships,” Corben said.

Kei Koga, an associate professor in public policy and global affairs at Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University, said the new declaration was likely to focus on security cooperation especially in the economic and military arenas, and might even include cooperation in the Pacific region.

Koga added that since Japan and the US were formal allies, Japan was likely to have a similar declaration with India, noting that both Tokyo and New Delhi had agreed to further bolster their defence cooperation during their “two-plus-two” talks last month.

However, the level of cooperation would not be similar due to the different “levels of commitment and shared interests”, Koga said, referring not only to India’s refusal to condemn Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, but also Delhi’s continued purchase of oil and arms from Moscow.

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During the meeting between Albanese and Kishida, energy cooperation as well as the security of food supplies are believed to be high on the agenda.

Japan is said to depend on Australia for more than a third of its liquefied natural gas imports but global supply chains have been disrupted since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Nagao from the Hudson Institute said that Japan also hopes to import more rare earth elements from Australia to reduce its reliance on China, which currently provides more than 85 per cent of the world’s rare earth metals which are used in virtually all hi-tech products.