'India is self-sufficient'

In Transit

The Japanese Ambassador to India, Takeshi Yagi, is full of hopes about the ties between the two countries and its future.

He took over as the Ambassador in October this year. Yagi, who is relatively new to the country, says that India has done well for itself and is not dependant on any country for anything.

“We are working on various things together, the current projects are the Chennai-Bangalore industrial corridor. This consists of many projects and is a master plan. We will also assist in the construction of the second phase of the Bangalore Metro project. Preliminary studies have begun for the high-speed train project between Bangalore and Chennai and extended areas. We are trying to extend it to the west and east coast of India,” explains Yagi.

He goes on to say that in the economic field, the number of Japanese companies operating in India has increased rapidly over the past few years, making Japan the fourth largest foreign investor in India.

“As part of our economic cooperation, we are actively participating in important infrastructure projects. In the educational sphere also, we want to invite more Indian students to Japan instead of expanding our universities here,” says Yagi.

“If more students come to Japan, the tourism sector will be boosted. As of now, the number of tourists from India to Japan is very limited. Most of them feel that Japan is an expensive country and some of them also have language constraints. But if they do decide to come to Japan for a holiday, I am sure they will not return disappointed. They will be assisted so that their stay is comfortable,” he says.

“But here, I would like to clarify that Japan is not very expensive and we will welcome tourists from India to our country. As far as Japanese investors are concerned, the Indian government doesn’t have to do much to lure them as they are already on a rise. Both the governments can cooperate to bring in more investors. The Indian infrastructure is expanding rapidly and India is not dependent on Japan for its infrastructure. It is self-sufficient, in fact, many countries are attracted to India because of its natural resources,” he notes.

“Since this year, we are celebrating the 60th year of Indo-Japan diplomatic ties, we are organising more than 160 cultural and intellectual exchange events. This will include introduction of Japanese technology and conducting a host of cultural programmes in various parts of the India. These exchanges will help Indians to know their country better and in creating awareness about our country and its culture,” he sums up.