Assam CAB Protest | Japanese PM Shinzo Abe Cancels his Visit to Northeast?

New Delhi, December 13, 2019:

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has cancelled a visit to India who was scheduled to visit Northeast for the Indo- Japan Summit from December 15 to December 17. The cancellation came up as a result of the ongoing protests in Assam against the Citizenship Amendment Bill.

The confirmation came up through a tweet by the Indian foreign ministry spokesman Raveesh Kumar. The foreign spokesperson tweeted, “With reference to the proposed visit of Japanese PM @AbeShinzo to India, both sides have decided to defer the visit to a mutually convenient date in the near future.”

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The first Indo-Japan summit to be held in the Northeast was expected to give a major push to the India-Japan Act East Forum, as Japan had plans to invest around Rs 13,000 cr in projects in the eight states of the region.

It is to be mentioned here that massive uprisings have been witnessed across the state after the Centre passed the contentious Citizenship Amendment Bill in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday. The bill lays out a path of Indian citizenship for six minority religious groups from neighbouring Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

According to reports, PM Narendra Modi had planned to host Abe in Assam beginning Sunday as part of a campaign to showcase India’s diversity.

Japan has stepped up infrastructure development work in Assam in recent years, which the two sides were expected to highlight during the summit. Shinzo Abe was also scheduled to visit a memorial in Manipur where Japanese soldiers were killed during World War Two.

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