Tokyo: Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga has canceled his planned trips to India due to the worsening Covid situation, the government’s top spokesperson said.
In a statement on Wednesday, Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato said that plans had been made for Suga to meet Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the first time in person, with the pair slated to discuss a number of issues pertaining to economic and security issues and spanning infrastructure building, cooperation in outer space and cybersecurity.
Both India and Japan are struggling to contain a rebound in novel coronavirus virus infections, with the Japanese government saying on Wednesday that a fresh state of emergency would be declared for Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto and Hyogo prefectures from Friday amid a surge in cases.
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Japan and India have also postponed their planned foreign and defence ministerial talks that were scheduled to take place this weekend in Tokyo, owing to Covid-19 cases rising in both countries.
