Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s visit to India, which was scheduled for next week, has been postponed amid protests over a new citizenship law.
Abe was scheduled to begin his visit on Sunday and was slated to meet his counterpart Narendra Modi in the main north-eastern city of Guwahati, which has been engulfed in protests over the past few days.
“Both sides have decided to defer the visit to a mutually convenient date in the near future,” India’s foreign ministry spokesman Raveesh Kumar said on Friday.
A Japanese media report earlier Friday said Abe was considering cancelling his visit due to the protests in the north-eastern region.
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The new citizenship law proposes to grant citizenship to non-Muslims from neighbouring countries.
Protesters feel the move would lead to an influx of illegal immigrants and hurt indigenous communities.
Two protesters died in firing by police during clashes in Guwahati, the main city in the state of Assam, police said on Thursday.
There was no overnight violence and some shops opened in Guwahati on Friday.
Sporadic protests were reported from some areas in Guwahati on Friday but the situation was improving, police said.
dpa/NAN
