Japanese PM’s New Year visits to G7 member countries fruitful
(VOVWORLD) - Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida returned to Tokyo on Sunday, concluding his first foreign trip of 2023, when Japan will host the G7 summit. The nearly weeklong trip to 5 of the world's most advanced economies has achieved many impressive results.
 US President Joe Biden and Japanese PM Fumio Kishida at the reception in Washington, DC, on January 13, 2023. (Photo: AFP/VNA)
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Kishida visited France, Italy, the UK, Canada, and the US. He didn’t visit Germany because the two state leaders exchanged visits last year.
Kishida received cooperation pledges from leaders of the 5 countries to make the G7 summit in Hiroshima in May a success. Face-to-face meetings helped Kishida strengthen personal relationships with the leaders ahead of the upcoming meeting. He had never met with the Italian and British Prime Ministers since they took office.
 PM Fumio Kishida and French President Emmanuel Macron co-chair a press meeting after the talks in Paris on January 9, 2023. (Photo: Kyodo/VNA)
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Kishida created consensus among G7 countries on emerging issues, including the Russia-Ukraine conflict, and directed attention to unstable security in Asia.
They affirmed their determination to maintain the rules-based international order and oppose any effort to change the status quo by force, and pledged to build a free and open Indo-Pacific.
During the trip, Kishida promoted bilateral relations with the other G7 countries, particularly in defense. Previously, Japan’s defense cooperation has been mainly with the US.