Kishida May Visit U.S. Next Spring

Tokyo, Nov. 21 (Jiji Press)--Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is considering visiting the United States next spring for talks with U.S. President Joe Biden to demonstrate the strong bilateral relationship, Japanese government sources said Tuesday.

The United States is expected to treat Kishida as a state guest. Biden asked Kishida to visit the United States at an early date next year, during a summit meeting in San Francisco on Thursday.

The two leaders are expected to affirm continued support for Ukraine in its war with Russia and their commitment to work with South Korea to address threats from North Korea.

Kishida is expected to deliver a speech at the U.S. Congress, becoming the first Japanese prime minister to do so since Shinzo Abe in April 2015. He is likely to call for deepening Japan-U.S. cooperation in ensuring a free and open Indo-Pacific region.

Separately, Kishida is considering visiting Brazil and Peru in January, which next year will hold the presidency of the Group of 20 major economies and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, respectively.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]