Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda agreed Thursday to cooperate on a wide range of issues but left the sensitive subject of whaling effectively untouched to avoid diplomatic friction.
"Prime Minister Fukuda and I have agreed that you can have disagreements between friends," Rudd told reporters after their meeting in Tokyo. "We will be working in the period ahead diplomatically in search of a solution on this question (of whaling)."
Australia has been one of the strongest opponents of Japan's research whaling, but the two leaders avoided directly discussing their positions.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.