Japan PM Suga cancels visit to India due to surge in COVID-19 cases

TOKYO: Japan’s news agency Kyodo News has said that Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga’s maiden visit to India during the country’s Golden Week holiday period starting from late April stands canceled for now.

While quoting Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato, it said that Yoshihide Suga canceled a planned visit to India and the Philippines as he needs to address a resurgence of coronavirus infections in the country.

In September Yoshihide Suga had taken over the reins of Japan as new prime minister, following the surprise resignation of Shinzo Abe.

Interestingly in December last year also, the visit of the former Japan PM Abe who was to visit India’s northeast region for an annual summit with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, too was canceled due to the protests that had irrupted in Guwahati, the capital of Assam, and several parts of the Northeast against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

However, the cancellation of the visit of incumbent PM Suga is due to the surge in Corona positive cases reported at a very rate in Japan and India as well in recent days putting the medical infrastructure under huge stress.

“The trip, which had been scheduled during the period through early May, was intended to reaffirm Japan’s cooperation with the two countries in achieving a free and open Indo-Pacific, as they look to counter China’s military buildup and growing assertiveness in the region,” stated Kyodo News.

Suga was scheduled to meet with Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the first time in person and discuss the promotion of cooperation on economic and security issues, ranging from infrastructure building to outer space and cybersecurity, said Kyodo News.

Through the meeting with Modi, Suga also planned to solidify a security framework consisting of Japan, India, Australia, and the United States — collectively known as the Quad — seen as a counterweight to China’s growing clout in the region, according to government sources.

Japan and India have also decided to postpone their foreign and defense ministerial talks scheduled this weekend in Tokyo due to a rapid increase in coronavirus cases in India.

Suga’s visit to the Philippines was aimed at marking the 65th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

The recent spikes in coronavirus cases in Japan have put a heavy strain on the medical systems in some areas, leading the government to consider imposing another state of emergency in Tokyo as well as Osaka and Hyogo prefectures.