Japan

Kishida said he would make his utmost efforts in lockstep with the G7 and other members of the international community to deescalate and ultimately resolve the crisis on the Russia-Ukraine border, Xinhua news agency reported. Kishida's participation in the Thursday summit, meanwhile, to be hosted by Germany, was announced by Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno.

Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar on Saturday dismissed the notion that Quad grouping is Asian NATO. He was participating in a panel discussion on 'A Sea Change? Regional Order and Security in the Indo-Pacific' at the Munich Security Conference (MSC) 2022. Jaishankar opened up on a wide range of topics including China's aggression in Indo-pacific. Here’s what he said at the conference on diverse topics: 

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said that it will publish a report in April detailing the findings of its mission to review the Japanese government's plan to release the contaminated radioactive water into the sea from the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant. A task force of the IAEA conducted a five-day safety review in Japan, which the agency pledged, would be carried out on an objective and scientific basis, reports Xinhua news agency.

The call came in a telephone conversation with Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Takeo Mori, held Tuesday, Yonhap news agency reported, citing the department. "The two officials reaffirmed the importance of continued US-Japan cooperation in making progress toward the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula," it said in a press release.

“We recognise that India is a like-minded partner and leader in South Asia and the Indian Ocean, active in and connected to the Southeast Asia, a driving force of the Quad, and an engine for regional growth and development,” said White House Principal Deputy Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre. The United States  has also emphasized upon building a strategic partnership with India to ensure regional peace and stability.

“… it’s (border standoff) an issue in which a lot of countries legitimately take interest, particularly if they are from the Indo-Pacific region. And because the situation has arisen due to the disregard by China in 2020 of written agreements with us, not to amass forces at the border. So, when a large country disregards written commitments, I think it’s an issue of legitimate concern for the entire international community,” EAM said in a joint press brief after a bilateral meeting with his Australian counterpart.

“China seeks peace, development, and cooperation. We advance the building of an Asia-Pacific security system that is open, inclusive, and not targeting any third country… We hope that the US and relevant countries can get a clear picture of the situation, feel relaxed, abandon the Cold War mentality," said Zhao Lijian, Spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China.

Friday's meeting marked the second attempt by the US and other like-minded countries in just about two weeks to hold North Korea to account for its recent series of missile launches, Yonhap News Agency reported on Saturday. North Korea staged its seventh and last round of missile launch of the year on January 30. The statement was signed by the UN representatives from eight other UNSC member countries.

The jet lost radar contact after taking off from the Komatsu Air Base in the central Japanese prefecture of Ishikawa, Xinhua news agency reported, citing the JASDF. The fighter disappeared at on Monday evening when it was conducting training with a crew of two aboard over the Sea of Japan about 5 km west-northwest of the base, according to a Ministry of Defense source.

The man attacked three visiting medical workers and shot one of them dead in the standoff that started at around 9 p.m. on Thursday night until early Friday morning, reports Xinhua news agency. A 44-year-old male doctor, thought to be the assailant's primary physician, was found by police with no vital signs and later died at the hospital.