Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi said Friday he will embark on a six-nation tour of South Asia and Africa later this month, as Japan aims to strengthen relations with emerging and developing countries, collectively referred to as the Global South.
Hayashi told a press conference that he will visit nations such as India and South Africa during his planned trip through early August, adding that the specific schedule is undecided.
As this year's chair of the Group of Seven countries, Japan is "focusing on boosting ties with our international partners, including those from the Global South, and the upcoming tour is part of such efforts," Hayashi said.
Sri Lanka, a country that has received massive loans from China amid concerns about whether Beijing's actions constitute so-called debt-trap diplomacy, and Ethiopia, where the African Union's headquarters is located, are also among the countries Hayashi will visit, along with Maldives and Uganda.
India and South Africa are members of the BRICS forum, whose members also consist of Brazil, Russia and China, and have maintained friendly relations with Moscow, even after the launch of its invasion of Ukraine in February last year.
G-7 members have implemented economic sanctions on Russia over the Ukraine war, while China and most of the Global South states have not taken part in the measures.
