Japan will propose top-level talks with India, the United States and Australia to plan and build ports and road networks across Asia and Africa, Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono told The Nikkei on Wednesday. Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will propose the dialogue to US President Donald Trump on November 6, Kono said.
The plan is aimed at countering China’s cross-continent expansion under its One Belt One Road initiative, which could extend its influence beyond Asia, the report said.
Kono said on Wednesday that he had spoken about the four-party dialogue with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop in August during a foreign ministers meet in Manila. “We are in an era when Japan has to exert itself diplomatically by drawing a big strategic picture,” he told The Nikkei. “Free and open seas will benefit all countries, including China and its belt and road initiative.”
Japan’s proposal is significant for India, which is concerned with China’s project as it would run through Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir. India has reiterated on several occasions that the project did not respect the territorial integrity.
US Secretary of State Tillerson had also suggested during his visit to India this week that Washington and New Delhi work together to build roads and ports across South Asia and Asia-Pacific as a response to China, the Hindustan Times reported.
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Tillerson and Kono had met on the sidelines of the 72nd United Nations General Assembly (pictured above) in New York in September and discussed some of these issues.
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