Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda agreed on Thursday not to let the whale-hunt issue to intervene in their partnership. During their several-hour talk the two decided that the dispute over Japan's annual whale hunts should not come between their plans to strengthen their security and economic partnership.

After the meeting, Rudd told reporters that "On whaling, Prime Minister Fukuda and I have agreed that you can have disagreements between friends. We've also agreed that this disagreement should not undermine in any way the strength and positive nature of our viable relationship."

This was Rudd’s first visit to Japan since he became Australia’s Prime Minister in December. Moreover, during Rudd’s and Fukuda’s talks, the two have decided to reach a free-trade deal and improve cooperation on global issues including climate change, AFP reports.

For a long time Australia has been fighting to put an end to Japan’s annual whale hunt in Antarctic. In order to do this they sent a fisheries and customs patrol ship to the Southern Ocean to take photos and make videos which will be used as evidence in a possible legal challenge. Reuters report that Canberra said that they might show this evidence before tribunals including the International Court of Justice in The Hague and the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea.

The meeting between Rudd and Fukuda included talks about the importance of a stable supply of food, energy and minerals from Australia to Japan. Also, Rudd’s proposal to set up an international commission to push forward efforts at stopping nuclear proliferation was embraced by Fukuda.