Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto and his Spanish counterpart, Jose Maria Aznar Lopez, agreed Thursday to strengthen political dialogue between Japan and Spain, Foreign Ministry officials said.
Hashimoto said in a two-way meeting that he welcomes Aznar's policy toward Asia, pointing out that Aznar is the first Spanish prime minister to call for strengthened ties between his country and nations in Asia, the officials said. Aznar told Hashimoto he wants him to visit Spain to boost top-level exchanges between the two countries, because Japan's prime minister has not visited the European country for 10 years, they said.
Aznar also told Hashimoto that he seeks to promote efforts to strengthen relations between Europe and Asia under the framework of the Asia-Europe Meeting, whose first gathering was held in March in Bangkok.