Japan's Suga cancel trips to India, Philippines due to surging COVID-19 cases

TOKYO, April 21 (Xinhua) -- Japanese Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide has canceled planned trips to India and the Philippines during the Golden Week holidays, due the novel coronavirus pandemic, the government's top spokesperson said Wednesday.

According to Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato, plans had been made for Suga to meet with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the first time in person, with the pair slated to discuss a number of issues pertaining to economic and security issues and spanning infrastructure building, cooperation in outer space and cybersecurity.

Both India and Japan are struggling to contain a rebound in novel coronavirus virus infections, with the Japanese government saying Wednesday that a fresh state of emergency would be declared for Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto and Hyogo prefectures from Friday amid a surge in cases.

Japan and India have also postponed their planned foreign and defense ministerial talks that were scheduled to take place this weekend in Tokyo, owing to COVID-19 cases rising in both countries.

Suga's visit to the Philippines, meanwhile, was supposed to mark the 65th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

Suga has said he needs to remain in Japan to focus on the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, which, in hard-hit Osaka Prefecture in western Japan, has seen the healthcare system overloaded, with not enough beds available in hospitals to treat patients suffering from severe COVID-19 symptoms.