Speeches / Statements
Remarks by EAM at Reception with the Indian Community at Four Seasons Hotel
04/07/2009
Ambassador and Mrs. H. K. Singh,
Distinguished Members of the Indian Community,
Ladies and Gentlemen:
I deem it a great honour to be in your midst this evening. This is my first visit to Japan as the Minister of External Affairs, and I am delighted that I have come here at a time when our relations with Japan are at their best and surging further ahead.
2. The Community of Indians that has made Japan its home for varying periods of time constitutes a special bond between India and Japan. I am aware that the oldest component of the Community came to Japan some 140 years ago. Other segments of the community have come since India’s independence, the most recent being the young IT professionals and engineers whose numbers are rapidly growing.
3. This Community may not be very large, but I understand it has grown by 25% to some 21,000 in past three years. But it is not numbers alone that makes you so special. You have kept the culture, spirit and idea of India alive in your adopted home. Your contributions to sharing the dynamism of the new India which is emerging today are equally noteworthy. As you help to build new bridges between India and Japan, I am confident that you will do so with diligence, creativity and enterprise that have become the hallmark of the Indian Diaspora all over the world.
4. From its villages and small towns to its large urban centres, India is on the move. Our economy continues to be in robust health and we are confident of being able to return to the higher growth trajectory of 2005-2008 by next year. Policies of deregulation and economic reform initiated since the early 1990s have unleashed the enormous entrepreneurial talent of our people and increased our global competitiveness. The Government of India has launched massive programmes for rural and urban renewal, public health and education. New policies enabling public-private partnership are driving forward plans to upgrade infrastructure nationwide. I believe that the transformations that are underway in India will bring about growth and prosperity to our people on an unprecedented scale.
5. The purpose of my visit to Japan is to enhance the appreciation of these very changes which have given us the capability to better partner with Japan and to emphasize that Japan can also contribute to this process as a longstanding friend and leading provider of developmental assistance. It is my belief that the educational, scientific and technological empowerment of a demographically younger India provides the basis for a long-term and mutually reinforcing partnership between Asia’s leading democracies and knowledge powers, India and Japan.
6. For me, this visit to Japan so shortly after assumption of office represents an important step in our journey towards the realization of the true potential of India-Japan relations. I have held far reaching talks with my counterpart Mr. Hirofumi Nakasone, the Foreign Minister of Japan and met Prime Minister Taro Aso. We are looking forward to welcoming the Japanese Prime Minister in India for the annual bilateral Summit later this year.
7. I have also this morning inaugurated our new Embassy, which I am happy to say enhances India’s image as a modern and great nation and provides ample space for economic and cultural interaction. I am certain that the Embassy’s ample premises will facilitate your activities as well. I understand that the Indian Merchants Association of Yokohama (IMAY), the oldest Indian body in Japan dating back to 1929, has decided to reinvigorate itself and establish an Indian Chamber in Tokyo as a professionally run, representative body. This is a welcome step at a time when our economic engagement with Japan is intensifying.
8. The Indian Community in Japan has played a stellar role in promoting friendship and amity between the peoples of India and Japan. You have cultivated deep bonds with the Japanese community and enjoy their confidence and trust. You are helping drive bilateral economic relations. At the same time, you have also maintained close links with your motherland. We are proud of you. I invite you to join in the exciting journey of shaping the new India which is emerging, an India that is always open to its diaspora and provides an ever growing range of opportunities to its citizens at home and abroad.
I thank you once again for your warm welcome.
Tokyo
July 4, 2009