The Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad (ISSI) held an In-House meeting with a 5-member Media Delegation from Japan on December 5, 2017. The members of the Japanese delegation included : Ms. Chiyoko Nakamoto Toyoda, Senior Director, International News Div, Fuji TV, Mr. Go Yamada, Senior Staff Writer, Nikkei News Review & Principle Economist, International & Asian Research Dept, Japan Centre for Economic Research (JCER), Mr. Masato Toriya, Research Fellow, Sasakawa Peace Foundation & Visiting Fellow, Institute of Asian, African & Middle Eastern Studies, Sophia University Tokyo, Mr. Hiroshi Mori, Bureau Chief, Senkai Shimbun Newspaper and Mr. Ken Iwasaki, Deputy Editor, International News Dept., Nippon TV.
The Chairman ISSI, Ambassador Khalid Mahmood, welcomed the delegation and said that Pakistanis have always thought of Japan as a friend. Ambassador Khalid briefly talked about the origins of bilateral relationship between Japan and Pakistan and said that Japan was the first country to establish trade office in Karachi even before the independence of Pakistan. Ambassador Mahmood informed the delegation that the people in Pakistan consider Japanese as people who work hard and generate quality output. He recalled that Pakistan’s main export to Japan in the early days was cotton while machinery items were main features of Japanese exports to Pakistan. He noted that in the realm of politics, Pakistan and Japan shared similar positions on international issues as both the countries were on the same block during the Cold War era.
