20.11.12

PM defers Japan visit


PM Manmohan Singh postponed his Japan tour less than 24 hours before his scheduled departure after his Japanese counterpart Yoshihiko Noda declared that he was looking at dissolving the lower House of Diet, the Japanese Parliament, on Friday. Singh’s bilateral meeting with Noda was scheduled for the same day.
Even though they were at pains to explain the exact sequence of events leading to the “postponement’’ of the visit, foreign ministry officials said the two sides were working to cull out a new set of dates for the trip. The visit is now likely to take place only next year.
Japan also announced that polls will take place on December 16. The foreign ministry said the visit had to be postponed because of “fast paced domestic developments’’ in Japan. Singh was supposed to start his six-day visit to Japan and Cambodia on Thursday. He will now depart on Sunday for Cambodia for the East Asia and Asean-India summits.

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