Kohima, Apr 25 (IANS): A three-member Japanese delegation of World War II Remains Recovery Project has met Nagaland Chief Secretary J. Alam and discussed locating the remains of fallen Japanese soldiers during the Second World War, officials said on Monday.

A senior official said that the visiting delegation expressed gratitude to the state government for the cooperation and support rendered to Japan in locating the remains of fallen Japanese soldiers during WWII, and intimated the Chief Secretary on the progress made during their previous visits to the state.

"They also informed that the team would be taking samples of the collected remains to Japan for DNA testing in order to identify the remains," the official said.

Alam assured the delegation of support and cooperation from the state government. Home Commissioner Abhijit Sinha and other senior state government officials were present during the meeting.

A Japanese delegation earlier in 2019 also visited many villages, including Jotsoma, Riisoma and Kigwema, in Kohima district and took home the remains of their soldiers and gathered information on the whereabouts of burial sites of soldiers from that country who died in the northeastern state during WW-II.

Thousands of Japanese soldiers died in Manipur and Nagaland when they invaded British India during the war.

Japan is the second country after the US, allowed by India to conduct excavations in northeast India to locate the remains of soldiers who lost their lives during WWII. In mid-2018, an US delegation conducted an excavation and took home the remains of their soldiers who died in air crashes in Arunachal Pradesh.