Putin’s island trip will hurt Japanese public sentiment: Takaichi

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Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi warned that Putin’s trip to Etorofu Island undermines relations between the two countries, and reasserted Japan’s claim over the disputed Northern Territories.

TOKYO — Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said in a strong rebuke that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s first official trip to Etorofu Island scarred the Japanese public’s heart and damaged diplomatic ties for the long haul. Takaichi called the trip “absolutely unacceptable” and “not in keeping with the proud stance Tokyo has taken”.

In the final days of WWII in 1945 Soviet troops stole the islands, and about 17,000 Japansese residents were taken with them. This dispute has banned anyone from signing the peace treaty that would terminate hostilities at the end of the war, for eight decades.

"The Northern Territories are in fact Japanese territory historically, and under international law," Takaichi said, recalling that Tokyo had repeatedly warned Moscow in advance that Presidents visiting the area were to be barred from receiving a high-level reception. In the wake of reports of Putin’s visit, during which he visited infrastructure facilities in Etorofu, Japan’s foreign ministry called in Russian Ambassador Nikolay Nozdrev to file a protest. The trip is Putin’s first to the islands under his rule and comes amid a sharp deterioration in Tokyo-Moscow ties following Japan’s support for Western sanctions over the war in Ukraine, analysts say.

It also reflects Moscow’s desire to teach importance to its eastern borders and to daunt Tokyo with a warning of no touchy-feely attitude towards the West. Takaichi told the Kremlin that a fresh reckoning of the seriousness of the situation would be made, and noted that her government would reassess its policy toward future diplomatic attempts, including the humanitarian programs that had allowed former Japanese residents to travel to their old graves on the islands.

✍️Ujjawal

Scholar from university of Delhi, INDIA