Japan, U.S., India Hold First Summit

December 1, 2018

Buenos Aires--Japan, the United States and India held their first summit, in Buenos Aires, on Friday, confirming their intentions to deepen the three-way strategic partnership to realize a free and open Indo-Pacific, a concept pushed by Tokyo and Washington.

At the meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe stressed that the three countries' cooperation for realizing a free and open iIndo-Pacific will help make the region more prosperous and more peaceful.

Japan, the United States and India share universal values and strategic interests, he said.

So far, the three countries have had two rounds of foreign ministers' talks. Bureau-chief-level officials of their foreign ministries have met nine times.

By launching the trilateral summit, the nations aim to promote discussions on regional situations and security policies in order to fortify their collaboration, apparently with an eye on China, which is boosting its presence in the international arena.

The Abe-Trump-Modi meeting was held on the fringe of the two-day summit of the Group of 20 advanced and emerging economies in the Argentine capital through Saturday. Jiji Press