Japan may extend a special recruitment programme to the Northeast under which residents of the region will be offered nursing jobs in that country.
This was conveyed by outgoing Ambassador of Japan Kenji Hiramatsu to Union Minister for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) Jitendra Singh here on Monday, an official statement said.
During the meeting, the minister discussed various projects being undertaken in Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh and Northeastern region under Japanese assistance.
Singh mentioned about the training of Nursing Care Workers (NCW) under the Technical Intern Training Programme (TITP), through which 12 candidates from Jammu have already been selected by Japanese companies for jobs in that country.
The Ambassador assured to extend TITP programme in the Northeastern region with participation of government of Japan, the statement said.
The minister proposed that, in future, 100 students can be taken under TITP programme from Ladakh as well, with 50 each from Leh and Kargil respectively.
The Japanese Ambassador has spent about three years and 11 months in India and his tenure witnessed unprecedented transformation of India-Japan relationship under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, it said.
The minister said a huge headway has been made in the level of collaboration in various fields such as bullet trains, nuclear, space technology and railways.
Singh said Japan shares emotional and historical relations with India, especially in the Northeast.
He said Japan has specialisation in food processing units and there is huge potential for opening specialised food parks for apples, cherry, strawberry in Jammu and Kashmir and berry in Ladakh, on the lines of citrus fruit parks in Northeast.
Singh said substantial engagement and investment has been done by Japan in the Northeast under the Modi government, specially in Manipur.
The minister congratulated the Japanese Ambassador for his successful tenure in India and his contribution towards realisation of the vision of the two leaders.
He said Hiramatsu's tenure saw some major achievements, such as conclusion of a bilateral Nuclear Deal (December, 2016), establishment of Digital and Health Partnerships (October, 2018), agreement on commencement of Acquisition and Cross-Servicing Agreement (ACSA) negotiations (October, 2018), agreement on Japanese Language Education in India and Disaster Risk Reduction (September, 2017), the statement said.
The minister particularly thanked the Ambassador for his contribution in establishment of the India-Japan Act East Forum which is an important mechanism for synergising India's 'Act East Policy' and Japan's 'Free and Open Indo-Pacific Strategy'.
Speaking about the Act East Forum, Singh noted that the Forum has brought all the relevant stakeholders together, and synergised towards implementation of ongoing and new projects in the Northeastern region.
The minister wished that Hiramatsu's successor would continue working with the same commitment and help in realising the true potential of India-Japan Special Strategic partnership.
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