Pakistan lodges protest with Japan over reference to cross-border terrorism in India-Japan joint statement

Islamabad (TIP): Pakistan has formally lodged a strong diplomatic protest with Japan over its decision to explicitly refer to “cross-border terrorism from Pakistan” in the India-Japan Annual Summit Joint Statement, underscoring Tokyo’s growing alignment with New Delhi’s long-standing position on terrorism emanating from across the border.
Confirming the development on Thursday, July 16, Pakistan Foreign Office spokesperson Ambassador Tahir Andrabi said Islamabad had made a strong démarche to the Japanese government, objecting to the language used in the joint statement issued after the 16th India-Japan Annual Summit earlier this month.
“We have expressed our concerns to Japan through diplomatic channels. In fact, a strong démarche has been made,” Andrabi said during the weekly media briefing in Islamabad.
“The Japanese government’s endorsement of such one-sided formulations ignores the undeniable contribution and sacrifices made by Pakistan,” Andrabi said, while adding that Japanese officials had assured Islamabad there was “no shift” in Tokyo’s policy towards Pakistan.
The diplomatic protest came at least a fortnight after India and Japan issued a joint statement on July 2 during Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s visit to New Delhi that carried one of the strongest formulations yet by Japan on terrorism affecting India.
The two leaders — Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Takaichi — had unequivocally and strongly condemned terrorism and violent extremism in all its forms and manifestations, including “cross-border terrorism from Pakistan”.
They also strongly condemned the April 22, 2025 terrorist attack in Pahalgam and the November 10, 2025 terror attack in Delhi, while taking note of the UN Security Council Monitoring Team’s reference to The Resistance Front (TRF).
The joint statement called for the perpetrators, organisers and financiers of the attacks to be brought to justice and urged concerted action against UN-designated terrorist groups, including Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammed, Al Qaeda and ISIS. It also stressed the need to eliminate terrorist safe havens, choke terror financing networks and halt the cross-border movement of terrorists.