Japanese Foreign Minister Hayashi arrives in Delhi on two-day visit

 Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi arrived in New Delhi on Thursday evening as part of his two-day visit to India.

Later in the evening, Hayashi is scheduled to hold bilateral talks with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar at the Hyderabad House.

On Friday, the Japanese Foreign Minister will attend the India- Japan Forum at Imperial Hotel in New Delhi.

Hayashi will depart for his country on Friday late evening.

He will travel to India as part of his visit to Southwest Asia and Africa to bolster relations with a group of nations known as the Global South, NHK World-Japan reported.

Speaking to reporters in Tokyo earlier this week, Yoshimasa Hayashi said he will visit India, Sri Lanka, the Maldives, South Africa, Uganda and Ethiopia through August 4. During his visit, he plans to hold meetings with foreign ministers of those countries and other senior officials, according to the NHK World-Japan report.

He also highlighted the importance of listening to the views of the Global South and responding to the needs of the group.

This is his second visit to India this year.

Earlier in March this year, Hayashi visited Delhi to attend the Quad Foreign Minister’s meeting.

This visit is part of a push to realise Japan Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's "free and open Indo-Pacific" and maintain the international order based on the rule of law, NHK World-Japan reported.

Speaking in Delhi in March this year, Kishida emphasised that India is “indispensable” in Tokyo’s plan for a “Free and Open Indo-Pacific”.

Earlier this May, Prime Minister Narendra Modi reviewed the full range of relations between India and Japan during his bilateral meeting with his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida in Hiroshima. The two leaders also discussed the focus areas of India's G20 Presidency and Japan's G7 Presidency towards making the planet better.

The two leaders also discussed deepening cooperation in the Indo-Pacific, according to the statement. The leaders agreed on ways to further strengthen the bilateral Special Strategic and Global Partnership.

"Had an excellent meeting with PM @kishida230this morning. We reviewed the full range of India-Japan relations and also discussed the focus areas of India’s G-20 Presidency and Japan’s G7 Presidency towards making our planet better," PM Modi said in a tweet.

India and Japan established diplomatic relations in 1952. India, Japan, Australia, US are part of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (QSD), commonly known as the Quad. (ANI)