Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe Set To Begin South American Trip On Monday - Reports

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe Set to Begin South American Trip on Monday - Reports

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will go on a trip to South America on November 26-December 4 visiting Argentina to attend the G20 summit, as well as Uruguay and Paraguay, local media reported on Monday.

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 26th November, 2018) Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will go on a trip to South America on November 26-December 4 visiting Argentina to attend the G20 summit, as well as Uruguay and Paraguay, local media reported on Monday.

The G20 summit will be held in Buenos Aires on November 30-December 1, bringing together the leaders of the world's 20 largest economies.

According to the Nikkei newspaper, Abe is expected to hold talks with US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin on the G20 sidelines. In his talks with the US leader, Abe will reportedly reaffirm Japan's belief in the importance of free trade amid the ongoing US-China trade wars, and address the upcoming talks on the US-Japan Trade Agreement on Goods (TAG) slated to start in the beginning of the next year.

The talks with Putin will focus on the territorial dispute in the light of the recent announcement by both leaders on stepping up the peace treaty talks based on the 1956 Soviet-Japanese joint declaration, the media outlet noted.

In Uruguay and Paraguay Abe is set to have meetings with the heads of state, as well as local citizens of the Japanese origin.

On November 14, the leaders of Russia and Japan met in Singapore and agreed to advance negotiations on a peace treaty based on the 1956 Soviet-Japanese joint declaration, the only document recognized by both countries. The declaration stipulates, among other things, that Japan will regain control over Habomai and Shikotan islets following the conclusion of the peace treaty with Russia. According to media reports, Abe has promised Putin that if Habomai and Shikotan were transferred to Japan, US military bases would not be established there.

In September, Trump and Abe announced that the two countries had agreed to start bilateral trade negotiations. According to a joint statement released by the White House, the two leaders agreed to respect each government's positions which include, for the United States, market access to Japan's motor vehicle sector which will boost US jobs and production. Tokyo, for its part, wants access to US agricultural, forestry, and fishery product markets as reflected in Japan's previous economic partnership agreement, the joint statement said.