NEW DELHI: Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s one-day visit to India will provide an opportunity for the two countries to discuss how the G20 and G7 can work together to address critical global issues including food security and health, energy transitions and economic security, sources said. before his arrival on Monday. India and Japan currently hold the G20 and G7 presidencies respectively.
Kishida hopes to more than make up for his foreign minister Yoshimasa Hayashi’s absence from the G20 foreign ministers’ meeting in India earlier this month.
While the Ukrainian issue will once again be high on Kishida’s agenda for the meeting with his counterpart Narendra Modi, there will also be a focus on strengthening security and defense cooperation and on search for a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific.
Kishida hosted German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Saturday for a bilateral summit where the two leaders welcomed the International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin. India and the United States are not members of the court, however, and the ICC mandate is unlikely to hinder Putin’s participation in the G20 and SCO summits that India will host later this year. year.
“Defence and security cooperation has become one of the most important pillars of our special strategic and global partnership and an important factor in ensuring peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region,” a source said. . Kishida is expected to talk about ways to further expand Japan’s free and open Indo-Pacific policy. “The successful conduct of the first ‘Veer Guardian’ fighter jet exercise in January 2023 in Japan between our two countries was a milestone,” the official added.
Kishida hopes to more than make up for his foreign minister Yoshimasa Hayashi’s absence from the G20 foreign ministers’ meeting in India earlier this month.
While the Ukrainian issue will once again be high on Kishida’s agenda for the meeting with his counterpart Narendra Modi, there will also be a focus on strengthening security and defense cooperation and on search for a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific.
Kishida hosted German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Saturday for a bilateral summit where the two leaders welcomed the International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin. India and the United States are not members of the court, however, and the ICC mandate is unlikely to hinder Putin’s participation in the G20 and SCO summits that India will host later this year. year.
“Defence and security cooperation has become one of the most important pillars of our special strategic and global partnership and an important factor in ensuring peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region,” a source said. . Kishida is expected to talk about ways to further expand Japan’s free and open Indo-Pacific policy. “The successful conduct of the first ‘Veer Guardian’ fighter jet exercise in January 2023 in Japan between our two countries was a milestone,” the official added.
