Japan PM's Assam visit called off again, Guwahati summit plans scrapped

Guwahati, June 23: In a setback to Assam’s bid to host a landmark India-Japan summit, the proposed visit of Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi to Guwahati next month has been cancelled, with her India trip now expected to be confined to New Delhi.

Confirming the development on Tuesday, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said the state government was informed by Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri that the Japanese Prime Minister’s proposed Assam leg had been dropped.

“Yesterday, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri informed the Assam Chief Secretary about the cancellation of the proposed Japanese Prime Minister’s visit to Assam due to some reason. The visit will now be confined to New Delhi. We do not know the reason for the cancellation and cannot ask the Prime Minister or the Ministry of External Affairs because it is against protocol,” Sarma told reporters.

The cancellation marks the second time that plans to host a Japanese Prime Minister in Assam have fallen through. In December 2019, the proposed summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and late Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Guwahati was called off amid protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.

“It is very unfortunate. Preparations had been going on for the past month and officials from the Japanese Embassy were in Guwahati inspecting venues and hotels where the delegates were expected to stay,” Sarma said.

The Chief Minister noted that the cancellation was particularly disappointing as a large Japanese business delegation was also expected to accompany Takaichi, potentially boosting investment prospects in the state.

“We should assess the reason for the cancellation. A major visit to Assam has been cancelled, but I believe the Government of India will bring other important summits to the state in the future,” he added.

The development also triggered a political row, with Assam Cabinet Minister Pijush Hazarika alleging that “anarchist forces” and groups opposed to the state’s development had created an atmosphere that discouraged such high-profile engagements.

In a post on social media, Hazarika claimed that “stooges sympathetic to the Chinese deep state” and “professional protesters” were attempting to derail Assam’s growth and scare away investors.

Takaichi is expected to undertake her first official visit to India from July 1 to 3 as part of the annual India-Japan summit process. Guwahati had earlier emerged as a likely venue for the high-level talks, a move seen as an effort to project the Northeast as India’s gateway to Southeast Asia and underscore Japan’s growing strategic and infrastructure interests in the region.

With the summit now likely to be held in New Delhi, Assam’s long-standing aspiration to host a Japanese Prime Minister remains unfulfilled for a second time in seven years.

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