Barack Obama congratulates Shinzo Abe on re-election

WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama today said US-Japan alliance is the cornerstone of peace and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific region as he congratulated Shinzo Abe on being re-elected for a third term as the Prime Minister of Japan.

"On behalf of the President and people of the United States, we congratulate Prime Minister Abe on the Liberal Democratic Party's success in the elections in Japan today," Obama said.

"The US-Japan alliance is the cornerstone of peace and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific. We appreciate Prime Minister Abe's strong leadership on a wide range of regional and global issues, from typhoon relief in the Philippines, to the Ebola response, to the international fight against ISIL," the US President said.

"The United States looks forward to deepening our close alliance cooperation with the government and people of Japan to promote global and regional security and prosperity, and bilateral cooperation on defense guidelines revision, TPP and maritime security," he added.

Abe, 60, was only halfway through his four-year term when he called the vote last month. He scored a big win in the snap polls with his Liberal Democratic Party and its partner Komeito Party bagging two-thirds of the seats in the 475-member Lower House of Parliament.