Japanese PM Shinzo Abe to address US Congress

Washington, April 29: Visiting Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to address US Congress on Wednesday, media reported.

Abe will become the first Japanese prime minister to address a session of both houses of Congress. British, South Korean and German leaders have been invited multiple times.

Earlier Tuesday, US President Barack Obama welcomed the Japanese leader to the White House in a pomp-filled ceremony, Voice of America reported

PM Abe began a historic, week-long visit to the US on Sunday to highlight strengthened trade and defense ties between the two countries.

Abe has described the US -Japanese alliance as "more robust than ever" and said Tokyo would be at "the forefront with the U.S." in confronting global challenges.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who visited US in September last year, did not address the US Congress. While former prime ministers Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Manmohan Singh both addressed a joint session of the two chambers, which was considered as the highest honour Congress can bestow on a foreign head of state.

OneIndia News