By IANS,
New Delhi : A day after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh cancelled his visit to Tokyo due to imminent elections in that country, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda Thursday telephoned him and apprised him of the political developments in his country and agreed to fix fresh dates for the annual summit meeting.
“Keeping in view that the dissolution of the Japan’s lower house of parliament would be announced on Nov 16, it was felt that the visit to Japan of the prime minister of India can take place at a later date,” the external affairs ministry said.
“Reviewing bilateral relations, the two prime ministers also welcomed the conclusion of the agreement between India and Japan on social security as well as the memorandum on cooperation in the rare earths industry in India and looked forward to early signing of these two document,” the ministry said.
The two leaders reiterated their desire to maintain the schedule of annual summits and agreed that fresh dates for the visit of the Indian prime minister to Japan would be discussed through diplomatic channels, the ministry said.
Manmohan Singh was scheduled to visit Japan Nov 15-18 for annual summit, but the visit had to be postponed after Japan’s foreign office informed New Delhi about an imminent announcement of elections in that country. The external affairs ministry Wednesday had announced the postponement of the visit.