Japan's Shinzo Abe visits South Asia in bid to counter China's influence

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe flew to Bangladesh yesterday on a two-stop tour of South Asia as the globe-trotting leader asserts Tokyo's interest in a region where it has ceded influence to China.

Abe becomes the first Japanese prime minister to visit Bangladesh in 14 years and today will be the first to travel to Sri Lanka in nearly a quarter of a century.

Abe called Bangladesh and Sri Lanka "countries with a growing influence in economic and political domains".

"I hope to introduce the dynamism of both countries to Japan's economy by strengthening relations with them and engaging in top-level sales activities," said Abe, who is accompanied by 50 top Japanese corporate executives.

Asian great power diplomacy has stirred to life since the rise to power of Indian nationalist Narendra Modi, who announced his intent to play an active role on the world stage by inviting regional leaders to his inauguration in May.

Abe comes to India's backyard after hosting Modi for summit talks that yielded a Japanese pledge to invest US$34 billion in India and launched a "special, strategic global partnership" to deepen security cooperation.