Prof. C. Raj Kumar and Dr Shashi Tharoor Address Japan’s Parliament to Deepen India–Japan Academic Ties 2026

In a rare honour reflecting the growing depth, maturity, and strategic importance of India–Japan relations, Professor C. Raj Kumar, Founding Vice Chancellor of O.P. Jindal Global University (JGU), and Dr Shashi Tharoor, Member of Parliament, India, addressed a distinguished bipartisan gathering of Members of the National Diet of Japan at the National Diet Building in Tokyo. Their addresses highlighted the complementary roles of higher education and parliamentary diplomacy in advancing one of Asia’s most important democratic partnerships through research, innovation, academic collaboration, and people-to-people engagement.

The significance of the interaction was heightened by its timing, coinciding with the official visit of the Prime Minister of Japan to India and the India–Japan Annual Summit with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. As both governments continue to deepen their Special Strategic and Global Partnership at the highest political level, the discussions in Tokyo demonstrated that enduring bilateral relationships are strengthened not only by governments but also by parliaments, universities, scholars, students, industry, and civil society.

Also See: O.P. Jindal Global University Admissions

The event also highlighted JGU’s longstanding commitment to advancing India–Japan relations through higher education. JGU has established academic partnerships with 27 leading Japanese universities, while nearly 200 JGU students are currently participating in short-term study abroad programmes across Japan, making it one of India’s most active universities in promoting educational collaboration, academic mobility, and people-to-people engagement with Japan.

The interaction was chaired by Mr Fukushiro Nukaga, the 80th Speaker of the House of Representatives of Japan, and brought together an exceptional and bipartisan gathering of Members of the National Diet representing both the House of Representatives and the House of Councillors. The meeting was attended by senior parliamentary leaders, former ministers, government representatives, eminent diplomats, distinguished academics, policy experts, and industry leaders from across Japan. The breadth of participation reflected Japan’s strong bipartisan commitment to strengthening parliamentary dialogue, educational cooperation, democratic engagement, innovation, and institutional partnerships with India.

Professor C. Raj Kumar spoke of the indispensable role of universities in shaping the future of international relations. He observed that institutions of higher learning today are far more than centres of education. They are global platforms where ideas cross borders, innovation flourishes, research addresses common challenges, and future leaders learn to work together across cultures and nations.

Professor Raj Kumar noted that Asia’s evolving geopolitical landscape demonstrates that the strongest international partnerships are patiently built through sustained investments in education, research, technology, human capital, institutional cooperation, and innovation. India and Japan, he said, possess a unique opportunity to deepen their relationship further by investing in universities, scientific collaboration, entrepreneurship, academic mobility, and knowledge partnerships.

He called for a future in which Indian and Japanese universities work even more closely together, researchers jointly address global challenges, students move more freely between both countries, and governments, industry, and academia collectively develop solutions for the Indo-Pacific and beyond. Such investments, he argued, create relationships that are resilient because they are founded not only on policy but also on people.

Highlighting JGU’s own engagement with Japan, Professor Raj Kumar noted that the University’s partnerships with 27 leading Japanese institutions and the participation of nearly 200 students in study abroad programmes across Japan reflect a sustained institutional commitment to building long-term academic cooperation. These partnerships have strengthened student mobility, faculty collaboration, joint research, innovation, and intercultural understanding, demonstrating how universities can serve as enduring bridges between nations.

Professor Raj Kumar observed that higher education has become one of the defining pillars of contemporary India–Japan relations because universities cultivate trust, mutual understanding, leadership, and lifelong friendships that strengthen bilateral cooperation across generations.

Concluding his address, Professor Raj Kumar remarked that if the twentieth century laid the foundations of trust between India and Japan, the twenty-first century must become the century in which that trust is transformed into a comprehensive partnership driven by knowledge, technology, sustainability, innovation, entrepreneurship, and shared democratic values. Sharing the platform with Dr. Shashi Tharoor, he described the occasion as a powerful affirmation of the complementary roles that higher education and parliamentary diplomacy can play in advancing one of Asia’s most significant strategic partnerships.

Complementing this institutional perspective, Dr. Shashi Tharoor reflected on the equally important role of parliamentary diplomacy and observed that diplomacy is not merely about negotiating interests or responding to crises. At its finest, he said, diplomacy preserves memory, reflects mutual respect, and inspires nations to imagine and build a better future together.

Reflecting on the centuries-old relationship between India and Japan, Dr. Tharoor noted that the friendship between the two countries has been nurtured through Buddhism, cultural exchange, democratic values, and deep civilisational respect. This shared history, he remarked, is not only a source of pride but also a responsibility. The challenge before both nations is not to create a new friendship but to continually renew and strengthen an enduring one through institutions capable of serving future generations.

Dr Tharoor emphasised that while governments create strategic partnerships, it is ultimately people who sustain them. The future of India–Japan relations, he suggested, will depend as much upon the relationships built among students, scholars, parliamentarians, entrepreneurs, artists, innovators, scientists, and citizens as upon agreements signed by governments. These enduring human connections transform strategic cooperation into lasting partnership.

Members of the National Diet spoke warmly of their longstanding engagement with India and expressed admiration for India’s civilisational heritage, democratic traditions, constitutional institutions, economic transformation, and expanding global role. They reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening parliamentary exchanges, educational partnerships, academic collaboration, scientific research, innovation, and people-to-people ties between the two democracies.

The discussions reflected a shared conviction that the future of India–Japan relations will not be shaped solely by diplomacy, economics, or security cooperation but equally by the strength of democratic institutions, universities, research collaborations, cultural understanding, and the opportunities created for young people to learn from one another.

At a time when India and Japan are engaging at the highest political level to shape the future of their Special Strategic and Global Partnership, the interaction in Tokyo served as a timely reminder that governments alone cannot build enduring international relationships. Universities, parliaments, scholars, researchers, entrepreneurs, and civil society together provide the institutional foundations that enable strategic partnerships to flourish across generations.

The addresses delivered by Professor C. Raj Kumar and Dr. Shashi Tharoor marked another important milestone in the expanding relationship between India and Japan. They reaffirmed the central role of democratic institutions, higher education, research, innovation, and people-to-people engagement in advancing peace, prosperity, sustainability, and stability across the Indo-Pacific and beyond.

Distinguished Participants

The interaction was chaired by Mr. Fukushiro Nukaga, the 80th Speaker of the House of Representatives of Japan, and brought together an exceptionally distinguished and bipartisan gathering of Members of the National Diet of Japan, senior parliamentary leaders, former ministers, government representatives, policy experts, academics, and industry leaders.

Chairperson

Mr. Fukushiro Nukaga

80th Speaker of the House of Representatives of Japan

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Liberal Democratic Party (LDP)

House of Representatives

Ms. Toshiko Abe – Former Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology

Mr. Kiyoshi Odawara – Former State Minister for Foreign Affairs

Mr. Hakubun Shimomura – Former Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology

Mr. Yasuhide Nakayama – Director-General, Global South Strategy Headquarters

Mr. Hisayuki Fujii – Former State Minister for Foreign Affairs

Mr. Masahito Moriyama – Former Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology

Mr. Tadamori Fujisawa – Member, House of Representatives

House of Councillors

Dr. Kuniko Inoguchi – Former Minister of State; Former Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary; Head of the Delegation of Japan to the Conference on Disarmament

Proxy Representatives (House of Representatives)

Ms. Hina Iwasaki – Representing Hon. Hina Iwasaki

Mr. Kentaro Uesugi – Representing Hon. Kentaro Uesugi

Ms. Marina Nagata – Representing Hon. Marina Nagata

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Democratic Party for the People (DPFP)

House of Representatives

Mr. Satoshi Asano

Proxy Representatives (House of Councillors)

Mr. Takanori Kawai – Representing Hon. Takanori Kawai

Mr. Michiya Haga – Representing Hon. Michiya Haga

Mr. Yoshihiko Yamada – Representing Hon. Yoshihiko Yamada

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Centrist Faction (Chūdō)

House of Representatives

Mr. Junya Ogawa – Party Leader and Vice Chairman (Representing Hon. Junya Ogawa)

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Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDPJ)

House of Councillors

Ms. Ayaka Shiomura

Mr. Shunichi Mizuoka – Party Leader and Vice Chairman

Ms. Masako Mori

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Japan Innovation Party (Nippon Ishin no Kai)

House of Councillors

Mr. Kenta Aoshima

Ms. Yukiko Kada

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Komeito

House of Councillors

Mr. Masaaki Taniai

Proxy Representative

Ms. Toshiko Takeya – Party Leader and Vice Chairman (Representing Hon. Toshiko Takeya)

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Sanseito

House of Representatives

Ms. Hitomi Aoki

Ms. Rina Yoshikawa

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Team Mirai

House of Representatives

Mr. Noboru Usami

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Independent (Former NHK Party)

House of Councillors

Mr. Kenichiro Saito

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Senior Parliamentary Leaders

Ms. Akiko Santo – Advisor and 32nd President of the House of Councillors

Mr. Tetsuro Fukuyama – Vice President of the House of Councillors

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Government Representative

Mr. Kosei Nomura – Deputy Minister and Director-General, Ministry of Foreign Affairs

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Distinguished Officials, Diplomats, Academics and Experts

Mr Mitsuo Ohashi – Chairman, World Federalist Movement of Japan; Former Chairman of Keidanren and Showa Denko (now Resonac)

Mr. Tadamichi Yamamoto – Former Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General; Former United Nations Under-Secretary-General; Former Ambassador to UNESCO; Member, Expert Advisory Body of the Japanese Parliamentary Committee for World Federation

Ms. Hirari Sato – Goodwill Ambassador for the UN Singers

Professor Shiro Takahashi – Reitaku University; Former Advisor to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe

Mr. Shumei Matsuzaki – Executive, Freemason Lodge; Former Advisor to Hirofumi Nakasone, Former Minister for Foreign Affairs

Mr. Takahiro Niwa – Special Advisor to Dentsu

Mr. Tamotsu Nakamura – Advisor to Hakuhodo

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Organisers

Mr. Masakuni Tanimoto – Secretary-General, Japanese Parliamentary Committee for World Federation; Chairperson, International Committee for World Federation

Members of the Secretariat – Japanese Parliamentary Committee for World Federation

About O.P. Jindal Global University

O.P. Jindal Global University (JGU) is one of India’s leading multidisciplinary and research-intensive universities. Through its extensive partnerships with 27 leading Japanese universities and the participation of nearly 200 students in academic programmes across Japan, JGU has emerged as one of India’s foremost institutions advancing educational collaboration, research partnerships, faculty engagement, and people-to-people ties between India and Japan. The University remains committed to strengthening international cooperation through higher education, innovation, and academic excellence.

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