Prime Minister Kishida will visit India on the 19th to hold a summit meeting with Prime Minister Modi.
We would like to confirm cooperation for improving the situation, considering that India is cautious about sanctions against Russia, which continues to invade Ukraine.
Prime Minister Kishida will visit India and Cambodia for three days from the 19th, and will soon depart Haneda Airport for his first visit to India.
In India, at a summit meeting with Prime Minister Modi on the afternoon of the 19th, we confirmed the progress of cooperation between Japan and India and the four countries called Quad, which added the United States and Australia, toward the realization of a free and open Indo-Pacific. It is expected to do.
However, since India has shown a cautious stance on sanctions in Russia's traditional friendly nation over the situation in Ukraine, Prime Minister Kishida urged Russia to take a strict stance as much as possible and aimed to improve the situation. I would like to confirm the cooperation.
In addition, Prime Minister Kishida would like to visit Cambodia, which is the chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, on the 20th to meet with Prime Minister Hun Sen and agree on the situation in Ukraine.
Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Hayashi plans to visit Turkey and the UAE = United Arab Emirates by the 21st to meet with government officials over the situation in Ukraine, and in diplomatic negotiations to abandon Russia's military invasion. We are planning to cooperate with each other.
We also expect to exchange views with the UAE to stabilize the international crude oil market.
Expert "It is difficult for India to impose sanctions on Russia"
We asked Mr. Manoju Joshi, a former member of India's National Security Task Force, who is familiar with international politics, what kind of speculation India will face in the summit meeting with Japan.
Regarding India's position on Russia's military invasion of Ukraine, Joshi said, "At the same time as deepening relations with other countries in the'quad'such as the United States and Japan, India has a deep partnership with Russia. It will not be easy to bridge the gap between India and the other three countries, "said India to directly condemn military invasions like the United States and Japan, and to impose sanctions on Russia. He realized that it was difficult to do.
Regarding the reason, Russia has strong political ties to India and has been the largest source of weapons for many years. "India is trying to reduce its dependence on Russia, but it is supplied by Russia. Weapons that have been used cannot be imported from other countries such as the United States and Japan. We are trying to develop our own defense industry, but it will take a very long time. "
On the other hand, he said, "Japan is a very important country with high technology. Since we are making very good products, we can further cooperate in that field," he said, which is indispensable for sustaining economic development for India. He pointed out that there is a desire to deepen cooperation in the field of infrastructure development, which is not available, in anticipation of Japan's high technological capabilities.