New Delhi: Prime Minister of Japan Yoshihide Suga may visit India in late April or May. This period will be crucial to further strengthen Indo-Japan cooperation in the region in order to counter China's ever-increasing aggression in the Indo-Pacific region.
This will be the first visit by a Japanese leader to India since the coronavirus pandemic began last year. In December 2019, a meeting in Guwahati between the then Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe and PM Narendra Modi had to be canceled due to protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act. It will also be the first Indian visit by a Japanese leader since then.
During the epidemic, PM Modi has interacted with his Japanese counterpart Suga several times over the phone. The two also participated in the first quad meeting held on March 12 via video conferencing. The meeting was also attended by US President Joe Biden and Australian PM Scott Morrison.
Sources said that both India and Japan are committed to making efforts to make the Indo-Pacific region free and open and this could be the main agenda for PM Suga's visit to India.
Sources said that the dates of PM Suga's visit to India are yet to be decided. Discussions are on in view of the situation of the coronavirus pandemic in both countries.
However, the key issue in the meeting between the two countries will be China. While India has been facing a deadlock over LAC with China for the past one year, Japan Bhil is concerned about China's interference in Senkaku Island in the East China Sea.
Japan has invested Rs 1600 crore in India's northeastern states and is working with India in other countries like Bangladesh-Sri Lanka.
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