• During his trip to Indonesia and India, Kishida is set to attend summits related to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations

TOKYO: In his upcoming trip from Tuesday, Japanese Prime Minister KISHIDA Fumio hopes to garner support from the so-called Global South countries, which take a neutral position between the Group of Seven members, and China and Russia.

During his trip to Indonesia and India, Kishida is set to attend summits related to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Jakarta on Wednesday and Thursday, as well as a two-day summit of the Group of 20 advanced and emerging economies in New Delhi from Sept. 9.

The G-20 framework ceased to function as a place to discuss regional situations after Russia began invading Ukraine in February last year.

In a G-20 summit last year, participants adopted a statement that “most members strongly condemned the war in Ukraine.”

This year’s president, India, has maintained friendly ties with Russia, however. A senior official of Japan’s Foreign Ministry warned that the upcoming summit statement “will be a step backward” in its expression about the Ukraine issue.

Kishida plans to find common ground with emerging economies over the topic of food security, an area that has attracted increased attention due to Russia’s invasion.

A statement on global food security was adopted by the leaders of the G-7 major democracies including Kishida, and invited dignitaries, such as Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during the G-7 summit in Hiroshima, western Japan, in May this year.

“We may be able to produce a positive outcome in the area of food security at the G-20 (summit),” a Japanese government official said.

“As this year’s G-7 president, we hope to build on our achievements at the G-7 Hiroshima summit for the G-20 (summit),” Kishida told an executive meeting of his Liberal Democratic Party on Tuesday.

With this year marking the 50th anniversary of Japan-ASEAN friendship and cooperation, the two sides will hold a special summit in Tokyo in December.

While many ASEAN members have strong ties with China, Kishida hopes to showcase at the upcoming ASEAN-related summits Japan’s own efforts in the area of development cooperation and personnel contributions.

He aims to use the upcoming trip as an opportunity to boost ties with ASEAN nations over security and other fields.

Through his visit to Indonesia and India, Kishida will also seek the understanding of other leaders over the release into the ocean of tritium-containing treated water from the disaster-crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.

In a summit to be held among the leaders of Japan, China, South Korea and ASEAN members Wednesday, Tokyo may have a war of words with China over the water release from the Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. plant in northeastern Japan. China has repeatedly criticized the water discharge.

Kishida is also eyeing a summit with the Chinese side.

Chinese Premier Li Qiang is set to attend ASEAN-related summits. Some overseas media outlets, however, have said that President Xi Jinping is expected to skip the G-20 summit.

If Kishida meets Li, he is expected to urge Beijing to respond to the water release issue in a way based on scientific evidence.

Kishida is also expected to directly ask China to lift its blanket ban on imports of Japanese fishery products implemented because TEPCO started discharging the treated water Aug. 24.

JIJI Press