Assam was busy preparing to welcome the Prime Minister of Japan for a long time. Preparations were going on on a large scale in Guwahati for the grand welcome of the Prime Minister. Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma himself was looking after this preparation, but the state government got a big shock when it came to know that the visit of Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi to Guwahati has been cancelled.
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Tuesday that Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri has informed the state government about the change in the time-table. CM Sarma said that “Last night, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri gave a message to the Chief Secretary of the Assam Government that due to some reasons, the visit of the Prime Minister of Japan to Assam has been postponed, and now his visit will be limited to New Delhi only.”
Cannot ask reason for cancellation of tour: Sarma
He said that however, Japanese officials have indicated that in future a separate date will be fixed for the visit of Japanese business representatives to Assam.
However, Chief Minister Sarma also said that the exact reason for canceling PM’s Assam tour has not been told to the Assam government. We cannot even ask the Japanese PM the reason for the cancellation of the tour. We will know about this only when I go to Delhi and External Affairs Minister S. Will meet Jaishankar.
Assam tour postponed due to PM’s busy schedule
News agency PTI reported that the plan to hold the next annual India-Japan summit in Assam has been postponed in view of the busy schedule of the Japanese PM and logistics issues. And this conference will now be held in New Delhi. PM Takaichi will be on a visit to India from 1st to 3rd July next month. This is Takaichi’s first visit to India after becoming the Prime Minister.
The Indian side had started initial preparations to hold the summit in Guwahati to maintain coordination with Japan to promote its engagement with North-East India. Given PM Takaichi’s domestic commitments, including the ongoing session of the Japanese Parliament, the time between his proposed arrival and departure from India is a tight schedule, sources have been quoted as saying.
Japanese PM’s visit postponed for the second time
This is not the first time that the proposed visit of the Japanese Prime Minister to Assam has been cancelled. Earlier, Shinzo Abe’s visit to India as Prime Minister was canceled due to anti-CAA protests in Assam.
Regarding the beautification campaign going on in Guwahati in case of cancellation of Japanese PM’s visit, Chief Minister Sarma said that routine work will continue in the city, although the special measures that were being taken were stopped.
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