Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is planning to visit Imphal, in northeastern India, where a fierce World War II battle took place between the Imperial Japanese Army and Allied forces, from Dec. 15-17, sources related to the government revealed Friday.
Abe is also expected to meet with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Dec. 16.
In the 1944 Battle of Imphal, the Imperial Japanese Army failed to capture the city from the Allied forces and suffered heavy losses.
Around Imphal, Tokyo has since supported building infrastructure including the construction of road networks. This area, including Imphal, has been designated as the core base for implementing Modi's Act East policy, which aims to strengthen the country's ties with Asia.
A person related to the Japanese government pointed out that the Imphal area has now become a "symbolic place" in which Japan's free and open Indo-Pacific initiative and the Act East policy overlap.
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