Following Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada’s surprise visit to Kabul on Sunday, the government is stepping up efforts to work out measures that can benefit Afghan people on the ground.
But this is turning out to be a difficult task because of the deteriorating security situation, and Japan’s presence in the region is likely to wane with the planned end in January of the Maritime Self-Defense Force’s Indian Ocean naval refueling mission in support of U.S.-led antiterrorism operations in and around Afghanistan.
Unable to view this article?
This could be due to a conflict with your ad-blocking or security software.
Please add japantimes.co.jp and piano.io to your list of allowed sites.
If this does not resolve the issue or you are unable to add the domains to your allowlist, please see out this support page.
We humbly apologize for the inconvenience.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.