Amid Russia-Ukraine war, Japan PM Fumio Kishida to begin two-day India visit from today

New Delhi: Amid the Russia-Ukraine war, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will commence his two-day visit to India starting Saturday (March 19, 2022) for the 14th India-Japan Annual Summit.

During the visit, Kishida is scheduled to hold talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The Summit would be the first meeting of the two leaders. 

これからインドとカンボジアに行ってまいります。 https://t.co/WcfwP4WyIA — 岸田文雄 (@kishida230) March 18, 2022

The previous India-Japan Annual Summit took place in Tokyo in October 2018.

"At the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of Japan Kishida Fumio will be undertaking an official visit to New Delhi from March 19-20 for the 14th India-Japan annual summit," India's Ministry of External Affairs had said in a statement.

"India and Japan have multi-faceted cooperation within the ambit of their 'Special Strategic and Global Partnership'. The Summit will provide an opportunity for both sides to review and strengthen the bilateral cooperation in diverse areas as well as exchange views on regional and global issues of mutual interest so as to advance their Partnership for peace, stability and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region and beyond," MEA had added.

The situation in Ukraine is also likely to figure in the Modi-Kishida talks.

The annual summit between Prime Minister Modi and his then Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe was cancelled in December 2019 in Guwahati in the wake of massive protests rocking the Assam capital over the amended citizenship law.

The summit could not be held in 2020 as well as in 2021 primarily due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Earlier in October 2021, PM Modi had spoken to PM Kishida on the phone after the Japanese prime minister had assumed office.

Japan, meanwhile, is also set to hold an in-person summit of Quad leaders this year and Prime Minister Modi is expected to attend it.

(With agency inputs)