Japan’s Suga to visit Philippines, India after Biden meeting, in bid to reaffirm Indo-Pacific cooperation

PM Yoshihide Suga’s expected meetings in Manila and New Delhi come amid concerns over Beijing’s assertiveness in the region

Both the Philippines and India have been locked in territorial disputes with China recently, with Manila-Beijing ties currently being tested over a row in the South China Sea

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Published: 5:34pm, 7 Apr 2021Updated: 1:39am, 8 Apr 2021

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga is expected to visit India and the Philippines in the weeks immediately after he travels to Washington DC to meet US President Joe Biden, a move widely seen as an attempt to stiffen those nations’ resolve to resist growing Chinese aggression in the Indo-Pacific region.

Suga is expected to hold talks with Biden on April 16 and will be the first foreign leader to meet the new US president at the White House.

Japanese government sources have indicated Suga will subsequently go to Manila to meet President Rodrigo Duterte and then on to New Delhi for discussions with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, although exact dates have yet to be determined because of the coronavirus situation.

India is part of the Quad, an alliance of the United States, Australia and Japan that is widely seen as a counterweight to China’s growing clout.

India and Japan have also built close defence ties over the years, signing an agreement last September that would provide their militaries access to each other’s bases for supplies and services.

“These are two of Japan’s most important partners in the region, with India part of the Quad security alliance and the Philippines our closest ally in Southeast Asia,” said Yuko Ito, a professor of international relations who specialises in Japan-Philippines relations at the Asia University of Japan in Tokyo.

“It’s clear that Suga will want to strengthen Japan’s lines of communication and bonds with these two governments in order to help to contain the rise of China in the region,” she said.

India has been embroiled in a months-long border dispute with China, sparked by a deadly clash in Ladakh in May last year. Even as a military disengagement process on both sides began in February, New Delhi has been seeking to deepen ties with its Quad partners.

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