G-7 Foreign Ministers to Discuss Terrorism, Refugees

Tokyo, April 5 (Jiji Press)--Foreign ministers from the Group of Seven major countries will discuss international challenges, including terrorism and violent extremism, and refugee issues, at their two-day meeting in the western Japan city of Hiroshima from Sunday, Japan's Foreign Ministry said Tuesday. Other pressing international issues on the agenda will be disarmament and nonproliferation, and maritime security, the ministry said. The ministers from Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States will also discuss regional problems, such as issues related to North Korea and the situations in the Middle East and Ukraine, it said. Federica Mogherini, high representative of the European Union for foreign affairs and security policy, and vice president of the European Commission, will also attend the meeting. On the margins of the gathering, the ministers will visit Itsukushima Shrine, a UNESCO World Heritage site, in the city of Hatsukaichi, next to Hiroshima, on Sunday evening. The Shinto shrine is also a Japanese national treasure. On Monday morning, they are slated to visit Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima and lay flowers at the cenotaph there for those who were killed in the U.S. atomic bombing of the city on Aug. 6, 1945, in the closing days of World War II. Also on Monday morning, the ministers will visit the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum that tells the story of the devastation caused by the atomic bombing. END