Suga Cancels Visit to India, Philippines

Tokyo, April 21 (Jiji Press)--Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga has decided to cancel his planned trip to India and the Philippines, Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato said Wednesday. The decision came in response to spiking coronavirus infection numbers in India and a pressing need for Suga to respond to the epidemic in Japan. Suga will cancel his planned trip during Japan's Golden Week holiday period from late April to early May in order to "take all possible coronavirus measures," Kato told a press conference. The prime minister was slated to visit the two countries to meet with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, partly to strengthen cooperation on the free and open Indo-Pacific initiative. The Japanese government is expected to declare shortly a fresh coronavirus state of emergency for Tokyo and some other prefectures. Suga therefore chose to stay in Japan during the holiday period and lead the fight against COVID-19. Suga "can't go overseas when he is asking the people to refrain from traveling," a government source said. The Japanese and Indian governments will also put off a meeting of their foreign and defense ministers scheduled to be held in Japan on Saturday. END