Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi will visit India later this week as part of a six-nation tour in Asia and Africa, where he plans to focus on Japan’s cooperation with the Global South and the Indo-Pacific policy unveiled by Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in Delhi in March this year. Mr. Hayashi, who also travelled to Delhi earlier this year to attend the Quad Foreign Minister’s meeting, is expected to hold meetings with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, business, and academic delegations. He will discuss bilateral ties, as well as continuing efforts to coordinate priorities of Japan’s Presidency of the G-7 with India’s Presidency of the G-20.
At a press conference in Tokyo, Mr. Hayashi said that his focus during the visit to India, Sri Lanka, Maldives, South Africa, Uganda, and Ethiopia was on enhancing ties with “South West Asia and Africa”. In early July, Mr. Hayashi hosted Pakistan Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto in Tokyo for a bilateral visit.
“Strengthening relationships with international partners, including those in the Global South, is something that Japan attaches great importance to at this year’s G-7 Presidency, and this round of visits is one such initiative,” Mr. Hayashi told journalists.
