Former Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori departed Sunday morning for a three-day trip to India to discuss antiterrorism efforts as a special envoy of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.
Mori, accompanied by Senior Vice Foreign Minister Seiken Sugiura, is scheduled to meet with Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee to seek India's cooperation in the ongoing U.S.-led antiterrorism campaign in Afghanistan.
Following his arrival Sunday afternoon in Delhi, Mori is scheduled to meet Monday with Defense Minister George Fernandes and Home Affairs Minister Lal Krishna Advani, the Foreign Ministry said earlier.
On Tuesday, Mori, who visited India and Pakistan in August 2000 as prime minister, will meet External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh before holding talks and a subsequent luncheon with Vajpayee, according to the ministry. He is expected to hand the Indian leader a letter from Koizumi.
The former prime minister, Koizumi's immediate predecessor, will also hold a press conference Tuesday afternoon before departing for Japan via Singapore later that day, according to the ministry. He is scheduled to return to Japan Wednesday night.
As part of its diplomatic efforts in the antiterrorism campaign, Japan has already sent former Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto to Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, former Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura to Iran and Saudi Arabia, and ruling Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker Muneo Suzuki to Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.