The Group of Seven’s foreign ministers are expected to pledge better use of information, including data on suspects wanted by Interpol, to counter terrorism when they hold talks starting next Sunday in Hiroshima, according to sources.
The ministers will also likely agree on the launch of a new system in which each G-7 country’s customs authorities can request airlines’ itinerary information on ticketed travelers to limit terrorists’ movements, the sources said Sunday.
The two-day meeting will be chaired by Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida, and Japan aims to highlight its contribution to the global fight against terrorism in the wake of the recent deadly attacks in Paris and Brussels.
The foreign ministers from Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States are also likely to condemn North Korea’s nuclear and missile development programs, according to the sources.
They will stress the importance of the rule of law in maritime security, apparently with China’s wide-scale land reclamation activities in the South China Sea in mind, the sources said.
Although China has called on Japan not to take up the disputes in the South China Sea at the Hiroshima meeting or at the G-7 summit to be held in Mie Prefecture in late May, Tokyo plans to raise the issue in an attempt to put pressure on Beijing, they said.
China has criticized Japan and the United States as “outsiders” interfering in its territorial disputes with smaller claimants, including the Philippines and Vietnam.
While the G-7 foreign ministers will likely express concern over any unilateral action to alter the status quo and raise tensions in the region, Japan is discussing the matter with other G-7 countries with the aim of adopting stronger language, the sources said.
Among other international issues, the G-7 ministers will likely seek increased support for countries near war-battered Syria as the flow of immigrants and refugees to Europe has become a major concern in the region.
On the situation in Ukraine, the ministers are expected to call on Russia and all other relevant stakeholders to implement a cease-fire agreement steadily, while demanding North Korea take immediate steps to resolve the issue of its abductions of foreign nationals, the sources said.
At the Hiroshima meeting, the G-7 foreign ministers are likely to release a separate declaration on nuclear disarmament and nonproliferation.
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