Afghan aid plan welcome: Clinton to Okada

The Japan Times: Thursday, Nov. 12, 2009

SINGAPORE (Kyodo) Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton affirmed tieups Wednesday in the reconstruction of Afghanistan, with Clinton welcoming Japan's new aid plan for the country worth $5 billion.

Okada told reporters after meeting with Clinton in Singapore that the two also agreed to reach a bilateral conclusion on the relocation of a U.S. Marine Corps base in Okinawa "as quickly as possible" through a new ministerial-level working group set up Tuesday.

They were on the same page against North Korea's nuclear threat, as Clinton briefed Okada about a U.S. plan to send Stephen Bosworth, special representative for North Korean policy, to Pyongyang in the near future to pave the way for a resumption of the stalled six-party denuclearization talks.

The Okada-Clinton talks on the sidelines of a two-day Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum ministerial meeting through Thursday came a day after Japan decided to extend up to $5 billion, or about ¥450 billion, in civilian aid to Afghanistan over five years from 2009 as part of efforts to combat terrorism.

"We unveiled this policy because peace and stability in Afghanistan are extremely important to Japan," Okada said. "They are also important to the world as a whole."

Okada quoted Clinton as telling him that she "appreciates" Japan's new aid plan. Clinton also said she wants Japan to engage in close consultations with the United States when promoting specific aid projects so that funds provided by the two countries are used effectively.

As for the row over the relocation of U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Ginowan, Okinawa, Okada said he and Clinton agreed to reach a conclusion as quickly as possible.

Okada said he did not raise his proposal to consolidate Futenma's flight operations with the nearby U.S. Kadena Air Base because he believes the proposal will be discussed by the bilateral working group the two sides agreed to set up.

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