Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga will leave Japan for the United States on Thursday on a four-day trip to meet U.S. President Joe Biden, Japan's top government spokesman said Tuesday.
The Japanese and U.S. leaders are scheduled to hold talks on Friday in Washington, in Biden's first in-person meeting with a foreign leader since taking office in January. Suga will return to Japan on Sunday.
The summit is expected "to further strengthen the Japan-U.S. alliance, which is the cornerstone of Japan's diplomacy and security, and to convey the strong Japan-U.S. relationship to the world," Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato told a press conference in Tokyo.
Suga and Biden are expected to discuss a range of issues including efforts to realize a free and open Indo-Pacific region, the response to the coronavirus pandemic, climate change, China and recent North Korean missile tests, according to Kato.
Japan had initially said the summit would take place in the first half of April, with some government sources suggesting it was being arranged for April 9, but it was pushed back by one week as the Biden administration focuses on dealing with COVID-19.
