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India and Australia also say their foreign ministers will attend the swearing-in ceremony as Trump returns to the White House
Published : 12 Jan 2025, 07:09 PM
Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya said on Sunday he planned to attend Donald Trump's inauguration as US president on Jan 20, as Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's government hopes to maintain close ties with its security ally.
"We aim to build a relationship of trust with the Trump administration," Iwaya told a talk show on public broadcaster NHK. He said he was seeking a meeting with Senator Marco Rubio, Trump's pick to be secretary of state.
India and Australia also said their foreign ministers would attend the swearing-in ceremony as Trump returns to the White House.
It will be Iwaya's first visit to the US since he became foreign minister in October. Japan, a longtime US ally that had good relations with Trump during his first administration, is keen to get off to a good start for his second.
Ishiba is looking into visiting the United States as early as the first half of February for his first meeting with Trump, Japan's Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper reported on Sunday.
Iwaya said he aimed to meet other senior officials from the incoming administration to lay the groundwork for an Ishiba visit.
Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar will attend the inauguration at the invitation of the Trump team and meet members of his incoming administration, his ministry said in a statement.
Penny Wong, foreign minister of fellow US Pacific ally Australia, said on Sunday she would also attend the inauguration, calling it "an important opportunity to discuss how we can advance the benefits of our strong economic and security partnership and expand our cooperation".
She has said Australia's centre-left Labor government was confident of its alliance with the United States, its biggest security partner, under the incoming Republican administration.
Australia, India, Japan and the United States, which form the Quad security group, have started making arrangements to hold a four-way foreign ministers' meeting in Washington following Trump's swearing-in, Japan's Nikkei business daily said.
China has objected to the Quad grouping as an effort to encircle Beijing and ramp up conflict, while the four member nations say they are like-minded democracies seeking to bolster stability in the Indo-Pacific region.
