Mr. Shotaro Yachi, Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs, to Visit India and Turkey

May 8, 2007

Mr. Shotaro Yachi, Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs, will visit India and Turkey from May 13 (Sun) to May 18 (Fri) to hold Vice-Ministerial Dialogues.

In India, Mr. Yachi will exchange views with Mr. Shivshankar Menon, Foreign Secretary of the Ministry of External Affairs of India, and other senior officials of the Government of India, on bilateral relations as well as regional and international issues in which the two countries have common interest, taking account of the results of visit of Dr. Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister of India, to Japan in December 2006 and the first Strategic Dialogue at the Foreign Ministers level between Japan and India, which was held in March 2007.

In Turkey, Mr. Yachi will exchange views with Mr. Ertugrul Apakan, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkey, and other senior officials of the Government of Turkey, on bilateral relations as well as regional and international issues in which the two countries have common interest.

India and Turkey account important positions in the “Arc of Freedom and Prosperity” that the Government of Japan has proposed, and views will be exchanged on this policy at the Vice-Ministerial Dialogues.

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