The Japanese government plans not to use the term "Global South" in a Group of Seven leaders' communique to be issued at the summit it will chair in Hiroshima.
The term, referring to emerging and developing nations mainly in the Southern Hemisphere, may give the impression of lumping together countries with diverse circumstances and is therefore considered inappropriate for such a document, according to government sources.
The G7 foreign ministers did not use the expression in their joint statement adopted at a meeting in April.