Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida on Monday expressed Tokyo's readiness to closely communicate with Nordic and Baltic countries over its possible involvement in the development of the resource-rich Arctic.
Japan shares with Norway, Estonia and six other European countries the "principles of using resources in a sustainable manner and respecting the rights of indigenous people," Kishida said during a foreign ministerial meeting in New Delhi, according to a Japanese official.
"We intend to make efforts in the area of environmental protection in particular," Kishida was quoted as saying.