Union Minister Kiren Rijiju today left for Tokyo to attend a symposium on 'Asia Values and Democracy', scheduled to be held on Tuesday.
The Japan Foundation and Vivekananda International Foundation (VIF) are co-hosting the symposium in collaboration with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Japan.
The symposium is a follow up to the "Hindu-Buddhist Conference for Conflict Avoidance and Environmental Consciousness" that was organised by VIF in collaboration with the International Buddhist Confederation and Tokyo Foundation in New Delhi in the first week of September, 2015.
This initiative has come from the talks that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had with his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe in which they identified conflict and environment as the two major challenges facing the world today.
The symposium in Tokyo will be attended by approximately 600 people representing 13 countries.
Rijiju, Minister of State for Home, will deliver the inaugural address.
"The symposium will offer avenues for better coordinate between the two top think tanks of India and Japan, government to government and people to people contact," he told PTI.
The Japanese Prime Minister will address the inaugural function, where Modi's video message will be played.
The symposium will attract renowned Asian political, social, academic, and religious leaders to explore the values that have formed the basis of democracy and inter-state relations in Asia.
Rijiju, the lone Buddhist in the Modi Ministry, is also scheduled to visit the ancient Buddhist temple of Todaji at Nara, Japan on January 20, before departure for India next day.
