The government announced Friday it will lift a three-year-old moratorium on financial aid to Pakistan and India in an effort to help stabilize the region adjacent to war-torn Afghanistan.
The Cabinet has approved a plan to lift the ban, which prohibited new grants and official development assistance, imposed in May 1998 after the two nations conducted a tit-for-tat series of nuclear tests.
"Japan highly values the ongoing efforts by India and Pakistan to help unite the international community in our battle against terrorism," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda said in a statement released later Friday.