The delegation is nonpartisan, with its members selected by the 110-year-old Japan-India Exchange Program organized by the major Indian business group CII. Delegation leader Singh said, "We would like to deepen the exchange between members of the parliaments at various levels. We hope to build even greater awareness amongst the Japanese people about India and its culture and society." Director General Tokai responded, "India is one of the world's greatest democratic nations. Japan and India share the same core values of democracy and free economy. These are powerful reasons for, I believe, strengthening bilateral relations." Prior to the meeting, the delegation had a meeting on July 4th with deputy director-generals of the International Bureau including Norio Mitsuya, Kenya Akiba, Yasutoshi Nishimura, Yasuhide Nakayama, Hirotaka Ishihara, Taku Otuska, and Keisuke Suzuki. They had a lively discussion and agreed that the current visit to Japan would be used as a catalyst to accelerate the deepening of bilateral relations in the coming years, especially among the young generations. |
