Japan and Italy have agreed to coordinate diplomatic and intelligence activities in the aftermath of Friday's militant attack in Dhaka.

Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida had a telephonic conversation with his Italian counterpart Paolo Gentiloni yesterday. The two ministers discussed the situation following the terror attack that claimed lives of nine Italian and seven Japanese citizens.

The ministers stressed the importance of a common commitment among the G7 countries to fight terrorism, according to a press statement of the Italian foreign ministry. Japan is the current chair of G7 while Italy would take over as the chair next year.

The Japanese foreign minister yesterday announced in Tokyo that his country would reinforce cooperation with the international community to make sure that such an incident never happened again.

Japan would also take all possible measures to ensure safety of Japanese nationals overseas, by leveraging the full capacity of its foreign ministry and overseas diplomatic missions, he added.

“Not only Japan, but the whole world has expressed indignation and sorrow over this incident,” Kishida said.

Meanwhile, the Bangladesh foreign ministry will hold a diplomatic briefing in the capital this morning to brief foreign diplomats about the Gulshan attack, investigation into the incident, and the measures taken by the government for safety and security of foreign nationals.

Talking to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina over the phone on Saturday, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe called upon the Bangladesh government to continue taking every possible measures to ensure safety of Japanese nationals as there are many of them in Bangladesh.

Hasina in response said her government was taking every possible steps for safety of Japanese citizens in Bangladesh.

A high government official yesterday told The Daily Star that the government stepped up its probe into the July 1 attack. Tokyo has conveyed to Dhaka that it would continue cooperating with Bangladesh despite the loss of lives of Japanese nationals in the attack.

BODIES BEING FLOWN HOME

A Japanese Air Force aircraft, carrying bodies of seven Japanese nationals, left Dhaka yesterday. The plane is expected to reach Haneda airport this morning.

The body of 19-year-old Indian Tarishi Jain was taken back to India by a Jet Airways flight at 10:20am yesterday. Italy will take back today the bodies of its nine citizens by a special aircraft.

Relatives of the seven Japanese victims had their first glimpse of the bodies at Combined Military Hospital in Dhaka yesterday. They also visited the attack scene in Gulshan in the afternoon.

A diplomatic source said the relatives appeared exhausted and speechless.

The 18 relatives, who arrived in Dhaka by a Japanese government airplane late Sunday night, were met on the ground by State Minister for Foreign Affairs Seiji Kihara, who is part of a government unit investigating acts of terrorism.

A highly placed diplomatic source said the Japanese state minister and his Bangladeshi counterpart Md Shahriar Alam met the victims' families on Sunday night and tried to console them.

Shahriar spent about 10 hours with the Japanese delegation and family members, added the source.

Meanwhile, US envoy in Japan Caroline Kennedy said her government would cooperate with Japan to make sure that the bilateral alliance would continue contributing to peace and stability in the region.

Talking to the Japanese foreign minister over the phone on Sunday, the US ambassador offered condolences for the loss of lives of Japanese citizens in the terror attack in Bangladesh.

The Japanese foreign minister felt strong resentment that innocent lives had been taken away by an atrocious and inhuman act of terror. He stated that terrorism is not to be tolerated for any reason whatsoever and Japan firmly condemns it.

US OFFERS HELP

The United States has offered immediate assistance from US law enforcement, including the FBI, to support Bangladesh carry out investigation into the Friday's outrageous attack on Holey Artisan Bakery in Dhaka.

The offer was made by US Secretary of State John Kerry, who called Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Sunday evening.

“The secretary encouraged the government of Bangladesh to conduct its investigation in accordance with the highest international standards,” according to a US State Department handout issued in Washington.

Kerry reaffirmed US support for Bangladesh's efforts to bring those responsible for planning and carrying out the attack to justice as well as to prevent future attacks.

He offered condolences for the loss of innocent lives at the hand of terrorists, said the release.