Kishida to make historic visit to Cuba

Kishida to make historic visit to Cuba

?Politics Apr. 27, 2015 - 02:58PM JST ( 6 )


TOKYO —

Fumio Kishida will visit Cuba this week, becoming the first Japanese foreign minister to do so and one of the highest-profile visitors to the isolated island since a thaw began between Washington and Havana.

Kishida arrived in the U.S. on Sunday and will first attend a meeting on the U.N. nuclear non-proliferation treaty and hold security talks with the U.S. side there, before heading to Havana.

Kishida, accompanied by a Japanese business delegation, is expected to call for closer ties with Cuba, where Japanese companies can invest in infrastructure projects and mineral resource development, NHK said.

During his visit, Kishida will hold talks with Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez and other Cuban officials, NHK said. The two foreign ministers met in Tokyo in 2013.

Japan and Cuba have maintained diplomatic ties but their channels were limited due to the discord between Cuba and the United States, Japan’s key ally.

Japan Today/AFP

http://www.japantoday.com/category/politics/view/kishida-to-make-historic-visit-to-cuba

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