Japan Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has canceled her trip to Guwahati, which was already part of her trip to India, forcing a cancellation for the India Japan annual summit, which was planned to be held in the Assam state.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that he had got information on the development from the Foreign Secretary, Vikram Misri, about the visit of the Special Rapporteur to the state government. Japanese officials said that it was for “unnecessary reasons” that the Prime Minister’s visit to New Delhi was restricted, but there was no detail provided to the Assam government.Sarma said that there was no detailed explanation for the restriction of the Prime Minister’s visit to New Delhi made by the Japanese authorities for any “unnecessary reasons”.
The cancellation was a blow to Assam as it had been preparing for a high-profile visit, having gone through preparations to beautify the town. Guwahati was on the list for the next India-Japan summit as Japan has been keenly interested in making the Northeast region of India as central as possible in Japanese agendas.
P. Sarma, however, said that the Japanese government has ensured the state government that a separate visit by Japanese business delegations will be organised sometime later. He, however, said that Assam police does not have any update on the exact reason as to why the new timetable has been changed.
In fact, it is believed that, due to Takaichi’s home-based engagements such as the current Parliamentary session in the country, there was not much time left for her trip to India. Due to these logistical difficulties, it is alleged that the summit was booked at New Delhi.
Ahead of her first official visit as Prime Minister of Japan, Takaichi will visit India from 1st to 3rd July.