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apan has expressed its appreciation to Indonesia for its efforts to find a peaceful solution to the territorial tension in the South and East China Seas on the heels of a report on Tokyo'€™s plan to deploy new drones to help monitor disputed islands, which may raise China'€™s alertness, says a minister.

The comments were made by Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida during a bilateral meeting with Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa in Nusa Dua, Bali, on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit.

'€œI just presented Indonesia'€™s vision for the establishment of such a binding agreement on the use of peaceful solutions amid the uncertainty and tension in the region,'€ Marty told reporters after the meeting.

'€œWe exchanged views on the issue and the Japanese minister highlighted the importance of reaching settlements via dialogue, as always pushed by Indonesia. He said that Indonesia'€™s proposal to form such a binding framework would be important.

The meeting also discussed Japan'€™s and Indonesia'€™s bids to become non-permanent members of the UN Security Council. '€œWe discussed Indonesia'€™s support of Japan'€™s bid and Japan'€™s support for that of Indonesia,'€ Marty said.

The meeting was held only two days after President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono had bilateral talks with visiting Chinese President Xi Jinping in Jakarta. Many believed the tension in the South China Sea, which involved overlapping territorial claims by China and four ASEAN members, was among the topics discussed by the two presidents.

As Southeast Asia'€™s largest economy and the most influential ASEAN member, Indonesia has always involved itself in the forefront during talks on solutions to the South China Sea conflict, even though it is not among the claimants.

Xi, as well as Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, are heading to Bali to attend the APEC Summit. A bilateral meeting between the two would be among the most highly anticipated bilateral talks in Bali, but reports said there had been lots of back and forth over the plan.

Japan'€™s reported plan to deploy long-range surveillance drones to the East China Sea came on the heels of Tokyo'€™s claim that Chinese vessels were still intruding Japanese territorial waters around contested islands.

It has re-escalated tensions between the nations regarding the years-long maritime disputes.

Marty, during the meeting, cited the consultation about a code of conduct in the South China Sea between China and ASEAN as a good example of using peaceful dialogue to address territorial conflict.

Also on Friday, Marty also had a bilateral meeting with Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird.

The meeting mainly discussed Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper'€™s plan to visit Indonesia in December. '€œWe discussed action plans about the sectors of cooperation to be enacted in the upcoming state visit,'€ Marty said.

Last month, Marty also met with Baird in Ottawa at the Third Indonesia-Canada ministerial consultancy forum. On the sidelines of the meeting, the two also witnessed the signing of a memorandum of understanding on sector terrorism eradication.