According to sources who spoke with The Indian Express, Japan’s Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi met with India’s External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar in New Delhi and the two nations have begun coordinating their stances in an effort to create a consensus paper for the G20 leaders’ summit.

Given that Japan is the G7 group’s current chair and has been the most outspoken opponent of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, its involvement is vital.

India is drafting the G20 leaders’ proclamation in Delhi while also serving as the G20 chair, working with Japan and other G7 nations on one side and Russia and China on the other.

India desires a consensus document, not a chair summary, for the Delhi statement. The G20 Foreign and Finance Ministers’ meetings have only ever produced a chair summary, which is not a consensus document.

Foreign Minister Hayashi stated Friday at the India-Japan Dialogue hosted by the Delhi-based Ananta Centre that Japan “emphasised during the G7 Hiroshima Summit… to defend the free and open international order based on the rule of law.” The G7 leaders, invited nations including India, and Ukraine addressed international peace and stability, and they all agreed that any country cannot allow unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force. They also concurred on the importance of the rule of law and the UN Charter’s tenets.

“At a time when there are many pressing challenges including Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, Japan and India fully share the necessity to lead the world to cooperation, rather than to division and confrontation,” he said, adding that “Japan is very much eager to continue working hand-in-hand with India towards the success of the G20 New Delhi Summit.”
In preparation for the G20 Summit on September 9–10, this is the first sign that the two nations are collaborating.

Hayashi also said, “The free and open international order based on the rule of law is key to realising such a world. To elaborate on this concept, ‘free’ means each country is free to make decisions based on its own sovereignty. The rule of law is essential for countries to enjoy such freedom. ‘Open’ means respect for principles including inclusiveness, openness, and diversity. It is vital that we refrain from imposing values or excluding certain countries.”
“This concept is especially crucial for smaller countries. In coordination with India, Japan intends to materialise such concept through realising a ‘Free and Open Indo-Pacific’ or FOIP,” he said.

Jaishankar, who also spoke at the India-Japan Forum, said, “I would like to step back and really underline the point of history which is that the Indo and the Pacific got really separated in 1945. It got separated because the dominance of the United States actually put the Pacific into particular spotlight because you had the Japan relationship, you had the events in China in the late 40s, you had the Korean War, you had the Vietnam War. So what happened was that it became for the United States a theatre all by itself. And today, as the world is globalising, as the US itself feels the need to look for more partners, we are seeing the return to history… the natural seamlessness between the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean, I think, is today creating what is increasingly accepted as the concept of Indo-Pacific. In fact, I was very happy that at the East Asia Summit this time… all the countries today recognised the validity of the Indo-Pacific.”

On Quad, Jaishankar said, “Quad is the ability for countries in alliances to keep their alliances, but to look beyond alliances. And it is this, I would say, a leap of strategic imagination which actually the leaders and the governments of Quad have shown.”

Hayashi and Jaishankar met Thursday evening for two-and-half hours, Yukiko Okano, Deputy Press Secretary of Japan’s Foreign Ministry, said.

She said China was discussed as was the Ukraine issue during their conversation.

At a briefing in Delhi, she said: “I think our position will remain the same as G7 countries, whichever forum we would voice our concerns and our objection relating to Ukraine.”

“When it comes to the joint communique, it is really up to the presidency how to reach a consensus. So I would prefer not to comment on the path forward. This is in the hands of the Indian presidency,” Okano said.
“Minister Hayashi welcomed the active multi-channel dialogue, including between the leaders of Japan and India and the ministers for foreign affairs. He affirmed that the two countries would continue to adjust high-level points of contact in the future,” she said.

“Both ministers affirmed that they would continue to advance cooperation in the field of defence and security such as equipment cooperation and defence exchanges,” Okano said