External affairs minister S Jaishankar will travel to South Korea and Japan during March 5-8 for talks with his counterparts on bilateral, regional and global issues, including challenges in the Indo-Pacific.
Agenda of the 2-nation visit
The visit to South Korea and Japan, two of India’s major partners, will impart further momentum to bilateral exchanges and set the agenda for future cooperation,” the external affairs ministry said in a statement.
The minister will first travel to Seoul for a two-day visit from March 5-6 to co-chair the 10th India – Republic of Korea Joint Commission Meeting (JCM) with Cho Tae-yul, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea. He is expected to meet other dignitaries, heads of think tanks and the Indian community.
The India-South Korea special strategic partnership has expanded to diverse areas such as trade, investments, defence, education and technology. The joint commission meeting is expected to comprehensively review bilateral cooperation and explore avenues for further strengthening it, the statement said. The meeting will also be an opportunity for the two sides to exchange views on regional and global issues.
Japan Leg
In the second leg of the trip, Jaishankar will visit Japan from March 6-8 for the 16th India-Japan Foreign Minister’s Strategic Dialogue with the Foreign Minister of Japan, Yoko Kamikawa.
The two ministers are expected to discuss bilateral, regional and global issues and exchange views on cooperation for a free, open, inclusive and peaceful Indo-Pacific.
The India-Japan special strategic and global partnership has deepened in the last decade in areas such as defence, digital technologies, semiconductor supply chains, clean energy, high-speed rail, industrial competitiveness and connectivity.
Jaishankar’s visit and meetings in Tokyo will provide strategic guidance to functional cooperation between the two sides in these areas. And he is also expected to interact with business leaders, think tanks and academia.
MEA says…
During the weekly briefing on Thursday (Feb 29, 2024) the official spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said that India shares a very expansive, broad-based, multifaceted relationship with South Korea and during the upcoming visit of External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar to the nation, all aspects of this relationship would be discussed.
“EAM is to visit Japan and S Korea from March 5-8. In South Korea, he will be attending the 10th joint commission meeting, where we have a very expansive, broad-based, multifaceted relationship with S Korea,” he said.
In response to a question the official spokesperson of the MEA said: “All aspects of the relationship would be discussed.” Jaiswal also emphasised on India’s strong ties with Japan and stated that the foreign minister-level strategic dialogue will be conducted during the visit.
He said, “EAM would be visiting Japan. We have very strong ties with Japan. The foreign minister-level strategic dialogue will be conducted during the visit. When it comes to Japan, a very special country, a very special partner for India.” “We have a broad-based, and expansive relationship that goes into several domains,” he added.