Japan's parliament enacted a major shift in defense policy on Saturday, which could allow Japanese troops to fight overseas for the first time since the nation's defeat at end of World War II 1945.

It was a milestone in Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's push to loosen the limits of the pacifist constitution on the military.

Abe claimed the shift, the biggest change in Japan's defense policy since the creation of its postwar military in 1954, is vital to meet new challenges.