Japan's Prime Minister Kishida Fumio arrived in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta on Tuesday for a summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

Kishida is scheduled to attend the meeting on Wednesday. He plans to call for further cooperation in a wide range of areas including infrastructure investment, maritime activities and cybersecurity to maintain and strengthen free and open international order.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of friendship and cooperation between Japan and ASEAN.

Kishida is also expected to explain to the ASEAN nations the scientific basis for the safety of the treated and diluted water being discharged from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the ocean. China has sharply criticized the release.
Kishida will travel to India later this week to attend a Group of 20 summit. The agenda there will include food safety, which has been affected by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and other international issues.

China's Premier Li Qiang will attend the ASEAN and G20 summits. Observers are waiting to see whether Li and Kishida hold dialogue.