U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, due in Japan for next week's Afghan reconstruction conference, will meet with Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka on Sunday and Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on Monday, Japanese officials said Thursday.
Powell and Tanaka are expected to reconfirm the commitment Washington and Tokyo made to ensure the success of the two-day Tokyo conference on Afghanistan, which begins Monday. They are also expected to discuss the heightened tension between India and Pakistan, the officials said.
On Monday, Powell and Koizumi are expected to focus on bilateral relations ahead of the first visit by U.S. President George W. Bush to Japan on Feb. 17.
On the sidelines of the two-day conference on Afghanistan, Tanaka is scheduled to meet with South Korean Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Han Seung Soo, European Union External Relations Commissioner Chris Patten and Afghan interim government leader Hamid Karzai.