INTERVIEW: Japan Sees G-7 Role Increasing in Divided World

Tokyo, Dec. 30 (Jiji Press)--The role of the Group of Seven major powers including Japan is increasing as the international community is growingly divided amid rising geopolitical tensions, a Japanese official has said.

"The current major geopolitical issues include Ukraine and the Middle East," Vice Minister of Finance for International Affairs Atsushi Mimura said in a recent interview, forecasting that the international situation will remain turbulent in 2025.

While mentioning the rise of Global South emerging and developing countries such as India and Brazil, Mimura declared that "the G-7 is the only group willing to bear the financial and work burdens to maintain important values and order, such as democracy and free trade, even when the international community is said to be divided."

"The role has grown over the past year," he added. The G-7 members other than Japan are Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the United States and the European Union.

Ahead of the January 2025 launch of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's administration, Mimura pointed to the need for detailed communication with the United States.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]