Seiken Sugiura, senior vice foreign minister, may accompany former Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori on his trip to India later this week, the ministry announced Thursday.
Shigeo Uetake, the other senior vice foreign minister, told a news conference that Sugiura's trip must be approved by Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka and the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's Diet Affairs Committee because the Diet is currently in session.
Mori is going to India on Sunday as a special envoy of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi in Japan's counterterrorism efforts.
He is scheduled to meet with Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee to seek the country's cooperation in the ongoing U.S.-led attack on Afghanistan.
Mori is to meet Vajpayee on Tuesday and is expected to also hold talks with George Fernandes, Indian external affairs and defense minister, and Home Affairs Minister Lal Krishna Advani, according to government officials.