Japan Foreign Minister Hayashi Yoshimasa to reach India on July 27

NEW DELHI: Japanese Foreign Minister Hayashi Yoshimasa will be arriving in New Delhi on Thursday evening on a two-day visit to India to push for a “free and open Indo-Pacific”, the Ministry of External Affairs press release said on Thursday.

He would reach the Indira Gandhi International Airport on Thursday evening and later in the evening will hold bilateral talks with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar at the Hyderabad House.

On Friday, he will attend the India- Japan Forum at Imperial Hotel in New Delhi.

He will depart for his country on Friday late evening.

Yoshimasa will travel to India as part of his visit to Southwest Asia and Africa to bolster relations with a group of nations known as the Global South, NHK World-Japan reported.

Speaking to reporters in Tokyo earlier this week, Yoshimasa said he will visit India, Sri Lanka, the Maldives, South Africa, Uganda and Ethiopia through August 4. During his visit, he plans to hold meetings with foreign ministers of those countries and other senior officials, according to the NHK World-Japan report.

Yoshimasa highlighted the importance of listening to the views of the Global South and responding to the needs of the group.

Hayashi visited Delhi in March this year to attend the Quad Foreign Minister’s meeting.

Yoshimasa’s visit is part of a push to realize Japan Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s “free and open Indo-Pacific” and maintain the international order based on the rule of law, NHK World-Japan reported. Speaking in Delhi in March this year, Kishida emphasised that India is “indispensable” in Tokyo’s plan for a “Free and Open Indo-Pacific”.

Earlier this May, Prime Minister Narendra Modi reviewed the full range of relations between India and Japan during his bilateral meeting with his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida in Hiroshima. The two leaders also discussed the focus areas of India’s G20 Presidency and Japan’s G7 Presidency towards making the planet better.

The two leaders also discussed deepening cooperation in the Indo-Pacific, according to the statement. The leaders agreed on ways to further strengthen the bilateral Special Strategic and Global Partnership.

PM Modi tweeted, “Had an excellent meeting with PM @kishida230this morning. We reviewed the full range of India-Japan relations and also discussed the focus areas of India’s G-20 Presidency and Japan’s G-7 Presidency towards making our planet better.”

India and Japan established diplomatic relations in 1952. India, Japan, Australia, US are part of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (QSD), commonly known as the Quad.