NEW DELHI: China figured in the inaugural Indo-Japan 2+2 Dialogue in New Delhi on Saturday at the foreign and defence ministries’ level. “It is important to ‘encourage’ Beijing into following international rules,” Deputy Press Secretary in the Japanese foreign ministry Atsushi Kaifu underlined on Sunday, while briefing reporters in the capital.
In response to a question, Kaifu said his country is looking at the situation in Kashmir ‘carefully’ and hopes a ‘peaceful resolution’ could be found through dialogue. Further asked whether Japan would extend financial assistance to projects in India’s north-eastern state of Arunachal Pradesh, which China claims as its own, the Japanese official said his country would continue to discuss the issue ‘very carefully’ in view of the ‘current status of that area’.
He, however, maintained that Japan was interested in development projects in India’s north-eastern region.
Asked about Japan-assisted high speed rail-popularly known as the bullet train project intending to connect Mumbai and Ahmedabad, which has been questioned by certain quarters within Maharashtra’s new ruling alliance, Kaifu expressed confidence that officials of the two countries would ‘continue to work closely to overcome challenges’. The dialogue comes weeks ahead of the crucial Annual Summit in mid-Dec. between Japanese PM Shinzo Abe and PM Narendra Modi in India. Despite speculation about Guwahati being the venue, Mr Kaifu said: “We are still working on the timing. When and where (exact dates and venue), we cannot say.”
