Japanese Lawmaker Sanae Takaichi Cancels Guwahati Leg of India Visit

Japanese lawmaker Sanae Takaichi will not visit Guwahati as originally planned during her scheduled trip to India from July 1 to 3. The visit to Assam's capital has been cancelled due to a tight schedule and logistical challenges, according to sources familiar with the plans.

Ms. Takaichi's interactions and meetings originally slated for Guwahati will now take place in New Delhi. The Guwahati segment was intended to highlight Japan's focus on India's northeastern region within its broader strategy for South and Southeast Asia and the Indo-Pacific initiative.

“Given Ms. Takaichi’s domestic commitments, including an ongoing session of the Diet (Japanese Parliament), the window between her proposed arrival in India and her departure is quite tight. In view of this and the additional logistical issues connected to a visit outside the capital, the visit is now likely to be held in Delhi,” a source told The Hindu.

This is not the first time a high-profile Japanese visit to the northeast has been altered. In 2019, the late Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was expected to visit Assam for a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, but the event was cancelled due to protests related to the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

Ms. Takaichi's visit, her first official trip to India, will now include meetings in the national capital. Earlier this year, Iwao Horii, State Minister for Foreign Affairs, visited Meghalaya and described the northeastern region as a convergence zone for “India’s Act East Policy and Japan’s FOIP (Free and Open Indo-Pacific) initiative.”

In late May, India and Japan reaffirmed their commitment to the Indo-Pacific during a visit by Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi to New Delhi.