Good progress between India, Japan in various fields:Hiramatsu

Underscoring the importance of Japan and India relations in growing further, Japan Ambassador Kenji Hiramatsu today said good progress is being witnessed between the two countries on political and security issues, social affairs and education.

"Both countries are now further expanding and deepening cooperation in the field of economy and investment as seen in the automobile industry and High Speed Railway.

"In addition, we see good progress in our cooperation (which) is widening in the fields of political and security issues, social affairs and education. The strategic importance of Japan and India relations is growing further," Hiramatsu said while addressing India-Japan Tourism Meet here.
 

The two-day event is being organised by FICCI and Embassy of Japan.

He, however, observed that travel and tourism between Japan and India is "not as active as we would expect if we take into account the important relationship" between the two countries.

Japan welcomed about 100,000 visitors from India in 2015, including 40,000 tourists, but in the same period 1.13 million Indians visited the United States.

"Therefore, I believe that there is a tremendous potential for expanding travel and tourism between Japan and India," he said.

Highlighting the importance of tourism, Union Minister Mahesh Sharma said the sector has potential to change the future of India with the generation of employment, enhanced earning of foreign exchange and women empowerment.

Noting that the relations between India and Japan date back to the 6th century due to Buddhism, he said out of eight major Buddhist tourist destinations, seven are in India--four in Uttar Pradesh and three in Bihar.

Sharma stressed that the government is working towards all tourism-related issues like the development of infrastructure, cleanliness and security of tourists.

Meanwhile, on a question on the feud within the Samajwadi Party, he claimed, "There are no second thoughts that Uttar Pradesh is suffering under the SP rule. There has been no development in the state, coupled with 'Gundaraaj', and now people have lost faith in the party because of these (recent) developments.