KARUIZAWA /Japan/, April 17. /TASS/. The foreign ministers of the Group of Seven (G7) nations have agreed to team up to solve the problems faced by Central Asian countries at their meeting on April 16-18 in the Japanese resort town of Karuizawa (Nagano Prefecture).

As for Central Asia, Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi, who chaired the meeting, "pointed to the importance of supporting the five Central Asian countries (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan) in addressing the concrete problems they face," the meeting organizers reported.

The foreign ministers "shared the view that the G7 countries will continue to cooperate in solving the region's problems," they said.

Japan has recently been paying a lot of attention to developing relations with Central Asian countries. Last November, the Parliamentary League of Friendship with the Central Asian Countries was established in Tokyo, headed by Taro Aso, deputy chairman of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and former prime minister. In early December 2022, the Japanese capital hosted the Central Asia Investment Forum 2022, bringing together officials and business executives from the region.

Japan holds the G7 presidency this year, and Hiroshima will host its G7 summit in May. The United States dropped an atomic bomb on the city on August 6, 1945, making it, along with Nagasaki, the lone instances of nuclear weapons being used in an armed conflict. The G7 foreign ministers are meeting on April 16-18 in the resort town of Karuizawa in the mountains of Nagano Prefecture.