Japan PM Yoshihide Suga to make first foreign visit to strengthen ties with Vietnam

Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato on Friday, October 16 announced that Japan's new Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga will be undertaking his first foreign visit to Vietnam and Indonesia from October 18-21 onwards. This will be Prime Minister Suga's first foreign visit as Japan's Prime Minister since being elected to the position by the Japanese parliament on September 16. Vietnam and Indonesia were also the first countries visited by Suga's predecessor, former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe after he came to power

Suga's first foreign visit since being appointed as Japan's PM

On August 28, Shinzo Abe made the shocking announcement that he would be stepping down from his post as Prime Minister for health reasons and following that announcement Japan's parliament elected Yoshihide Suga as country's new Prime Minister on September 16. Amid the rising tensions with China due to its growing assertiveness in the disputed South China Sea, Suga will be looking to strengthen Japan's security ties with Vietnam and Indonesia, two countries that are also locked over territorial disputes with China.

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From October 18-21 Suga is expected to meet the current chair of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) as well as Indonesia that is one of ASEAN's biggest markets. Japan has to learn to tread carefully and simultaneously balance its economic ties with China and also its growing security concerns.

(With ANI Inputs)

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