Indian Deputy Chairman visits Speaker Oshima
On Monday, 18 March, Mr. Harivansh, Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha of India, who was in Japan at the invitation of the House of Councillors, visited the House of Representatives with his delegation and met with Mr. Tadamori Oshima, Speaker; Mr. Hirotaka Akamatsu, Vice-Speaker; and Ms. Sanae Takaichi, Chairman of the Standing Committee on Rules and Administration.
To begin, Speaker Oshima welcomed the delegation to Japan and offered his condolences and sympathy to the families of the victims and to all those affected by the terror attack in Kashmir in February. After mentioning that the two nations' leaders have fostered a good relationship, he stated that India was an important partner for Japan to bring about a free and open Indo-Pacific, and hoped that bilateral relations would further deepen.
In response, Deputy Chairman Harivansh expressed gratitude to Speaker Oshima for his welcome. He stated his hope that, as their countries had a special strategic global partnership, their cooperative relationship would further develop in various areas such as the economy, maritime security, technology, agriculture and healthcare. He also stated that terrorism was a serious threat to the international community, and that he had high hopes for Japan's contributions to the fight against terrorism.
Other subjects in their meeting included the promotion of exchanges between their parliaments and those between local governments in Japan and India, and the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games.
