Deputy Minister to Represent Japan at G-20 Talks in India

Tokyo, March 1 (Jiji Press)--One of the two deputies to Japan's Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi will attend a two-day meeting among foreign ministers from the Group of 20 advanced and emerging economies in India from Wednesday.

The Japanese Foreign Ministry said Wednesday that Kenji Yamada, state minister for foreign affairs, will take part in the meeting in New Delhi.

Hayashi will skip the meeting due to a scheduling conflict as he needs to attend a meeting of the Budget Committee of the House of Councillors, the upper chamber of the Diet, Japan's parliament.

"While exploring the possibility of Foreign Minister Hayashi's participation (in the G-20 meeting), we considered event schedules at home, including at the Diet, from a comprehensive perspective," Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno told a press conference the same day.

Amid Russia's continued aggression against Ukraine, Japan hopes to "actively send out messages about its position and measures (to deal with the crisis) as this year's chair of" the Group of Seven major countries, the top Japanese government spokesman said.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]