The Ambassador of Japan Kenji Hiramatsu called on the Union Minister of State (I/C) Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh, on 21st October in New Delhi. The Japanese Ambassador has spent about 3 years and 11 months in India and his tenure in India witnessed unprecedented transformation of India-Japan relationship under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

During the meeting, the Dr. Singh discussed various projects from J&K, Ladakh and North East region. Dr Jitendra Singh mentioned about the training of Nursing Care Workers (NCW). He said that under the Technical Intern Training Programme (TITP), 12 candidates from Jammu have been selected in Japanese companies. The Ambassador assured to extend TITP programme in North Eastern region with participation of Government of Japan.

The Minister proposed that in future, 100 students can be taken under TITP programme from Ladakh as well, with 50 each from Leh and Kargil respectively.

The Minister said that a huge headway has been made in the level of collaboration in various fields such as bullet trains, nuclear, space technology and railways. Dr Jitendra Singh said that Japan shares emotional and historical relation with India, especially in North East. He added that Japan has specialisation in food processing units. He said that there is huge potential for opening specialised food parks for J&K apples, cherry, strawberry and Ladakh berry, on the lines of citrus fruit parks in North East. Dr Singh said that substantial engagement and investment has been done by Japan in North East under Modi Government, specially in the state of Manipur.

The Minister particularly thanked the Ambassador for his contribution in establishment of the India-Japan Act East Forum which is an important mechanism for synergising India’s “Act East Policy” and Japan’s “Free and Open Indo-Pacific Strategy”. Speaking about the Act East Forum, the Minister said that the Forum has brought all the relevant stakeholders together, and synergised towards implementation of ongoing and new projects in the North-East region.

The Minister wished that Kenji Hiramatsu’s successor would continue working with the same commitment and help in realising the true potential of India-Japan Special Strategic partnership.