A top U.S. diplomat will make a three-day trip to Tokyo starting Sunday for trilateral talks with India and Japan — a meeting likely to touch on maritime security and cooperation amid Beijing's growing assertiveness in the South China Sea.
Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel Russel will visit the capital through Tuesday, where he will co-host a U.S. delegation with Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Nisha Biswal, the U.S. State Department said in a statement Friday.
He will meet both Japanese and Indian government officials to discuss trilateral cooperation and region-specific issues, the statement added. These discussions will likely include the disputed South China Sea, where Beijing has embarked on a massive land-reclamation program that has stoked concern in the region.