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Updated July 26th, 2021 at 20:02 IST

Japan protests Russia PM Mikhail Mishustin's visit to Pacific islands

Russia Prime Minister Mishustin is on a trip to far East and Siberia this week. He visited the first stop, the Kuril Islands on July 26, Monday.

Reported by: Dipaneeta Das
Russia
IMAGE: AP | Image:self
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Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin visited the Pacific Islands claimed by Japan. The move brought protest from Tokyo and said the government is considering setting up a special economic zone there, reported PTI. Prime Minister Mishustin is on a trip to Russia's far East and Siberia this week. He visited the first stop, the Kuril Islands on July 26, Monday.

The Russian envoy visited a hospital and a fish plant on Iturup on his first day. The location is situated in one of the four southernmost Kuril islands. During his visit, he informed the plant workers about the Russian government's plan on creating a special economic zone on the islands. The business and investors would be free of most taxes and customs duties during business through the corridor, he added.

Business corridor to be an "intensification of business activity"

According to the Russian officials, the economic corridor “could be a good solution for investors, including the ones in the West, for Japan also, which, if interested, can create jobs here,” Mishustin said. He added, “this special regime will allow the intensification of economic activity" on the islands. Mishustin said he would discuss the project with Russian President Vladimir Putin. On July 23, Friday, President Putin had called on the prime minister to “pay special attention” to the Kuril Islands during his trip to the Far East, noting that Moscow had been working with “Japanese partners...to create the necessary conditions for those involved in economic activity,” PTI reported.

The Japan-Russian Peace Treaty

Decades of diplomatic efforts to negotiate a settlement haven't produced any viable results to negotiation in the Russia-occupied Northern Territories. According to Japanese authorities, the USSR took the land rights in the final days of World War II, and the dispute has kept the countries from signing a formal peace treaty and end their hostilities.

Under the Prime Ministership of Shinzo Abe, Japan spends considerable time and effort to draft a solution to mitigate conflict in the region during his nearly eight years in office but scored little progress. In September last year, the newly elected Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga spoke about the territorial dispute with Putin over a phone call. Following which both the countries have hoped to reach a settlement and sign a peace treaty.

Japan protests Mishustin's visit, Russia begins counter-protest

Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Takeo Mori summoned the Russian ambassador to Japan, Mikhail Galuzin, to protest against PM Mishustin's visit to Iturup on Monday. The ambassador said the protest was “unacceptable in light of the fundamental position of the Russian side” on the southern Kuril Islands, “which passed to our country legally following the results of the World War II,” the Russian embassy in Japan said in a statement on Facebook. In turn, Russian Foreign Ministry summoned the ambassador of Japan in Moscow, and protested the actions of Japanese authorities and urged “partners not to slide down towards a destructive line in bilateral relations.” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov also defended Mishustin''s visit to Iturup, saying that as head of government, Russia's prime minister “visits those Russian regions that he considers necessary and on the development of which, including in cooperation with our partners, a lot of work is to be done”.

(Input: PTI/AP) (Image input: AP)

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Published July 26th, 2021 at 20:02 IST

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