NEW DELHI (TIP): A day after his abrupt announcement to dissolve parliament put paid to India–Japan annual summit meet, PM Yoshihiko Noda called up his counterpart Manmohan Singh to explain the “fast paced” political developments in his country.
Noda had on Wednesday announced his intention to dissolve the lower house of Japanese parliament on November 16 — the day he was scheduled to have a bilateral meeting with Singh — leading to India’s decision to call off the visit for now. “The two Prime Ministers welcomed the fact that the India- Japan Strategic and Global Partnership is stronger than ever before,” said a statement by the foreign ministry. “Keeping in view that the dissolution of the Japanese lower house of parliament would be announced on November 16, it was felt that the visit to Japan of the Prime Minister of India can take place at a later date,” it added.
Reviewing bilateral ties, the two PMs also welcomed the conclusion of the agreement on social security as well as the memorandum on cooperation in the rare earths industry in India and looked forward to early signing of these two documents. “The two Prime Ministers reiterated their desire to maintain the schedule of annual summits and agreed that fresh dates for the visit of the Prime Minister to Japan will be discussed through diplomatic channels,” it said. The Indian PM was to visit Japan for three days in the first leg of his two-nation tour beginning on Thursday to November 20.