Tokyo, 20 March, /AJMEDIA
Japan, India will not tolerate attempts to alter status quo by force
NEW DELHI – Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi agreed Saturday they will never tolerate attempts to alter the status quo by force in any region in response to Russia’s aggression in Ukraine.
The two leaders affirmed that the war in Ukraine must be resolved based on international law, Kishida said at a joint news conference after a meeting in New Delhi, while Modi made no reference to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine during the press event.
———-
Japan, Turkey condemn Russia invasion of Ukraine as int’l law breach
TOKYO – Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi and his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu on Saturday condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as violating international law that bans the use of force and undermining the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Eastern European country.
The ministers agreed to closely cooperate in maintaining the international order, Hayashi said at a joint press conference with Cavusoglu after their talks in Antalya, southwestern Turkey, demanding that Russian President Vladimir Putin halt the illegal acts in Ukraine.
———-
Soccer: Japan without Osako, Sakai for Australia, Vietnam games
TOKYO – Japan will be without their main forward Yuya Osako and right-back Hiroki Sakai for their upcoming World Cup qualifying encounters with Australia and Vietnam after the pair pulled out on Saturday due to injuries.
Osako has started all eight Asian final-round qualifying matches so far but manager Hajime Moriyasu will not be able to call upon the 31-year-old for the crucial tie on Thursday in Sydney, where a win for Japan will guarantee their seventh straight qualification for the finals.
———-
Tragedy avoided on quake-hit derailed shinkansen from lessons learned
TOKYO – A Japanese rail operator says catastrophe was avoided on a high-speed shinkansen bullet train derailed by a recent powerful earthquake off northeastern Japan with no injuries reported, proving its safety once again thanks to measures put in place after major quakes in the past.
All 78 passengers and crew members aboard the derailed Tohoku Shinkansen bullet train were unharmed, East Japan Railway Co. said, after the magnitude-7.4 quake struck late Wednesday which left three people dead and more than 180 injured across 12 prefectures.
———-
China reports 1st COVID-19 deaths since January 2021
BEIJING – China on Saturday reported two COVID-19 deaths, the first since January last year, as the number of citizens newly infected with the novel coronavirus has been sharply increasing in the country.
The two elderly people, who had serious underlying diseases, were in the northeastern province of Jilin, where about 2,200 citizens were confirmed to be infected with the virus on Friday, the Chinese government said. One person was not vaccinated.
———-
Suzuki to invest 150 bil. yen in India to step up EV production
TOKYO – Suzuki Motor Corp. plans to invest around 150 billion yen ($1.26 billion) in its main market of India to step up production of electric vehicles and build a new plant for car batteries, sources close to the matter said Saturday.
The move by the Japanese automaker is in line with efforts by the Indian government to reduce greenhouse gas emissions amid the global trend toward decarbonization.
