When India attained its freedom in 1947, Japan was still trying to recover from the mammoth losses it suffered from the recent bombings on its twin cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. India, on one hand, was on a euphoric high, while Japan, on the other hand, was undergoing its worst ever slump with a population that was lame and deaf and blind.

Together, these two countries have a lot in common from the religious, cultural and  historical standpoints. However similar or diverse the backgrounds, India and Japan have grown together as two powerful nations on the world map. India sees Japan as a close political ally for its future alliances roadmap. Japan, too, is looking towards India as a strategic ally for its industrial and consumer market penetration. In fact, the recently concluded India-Japan Global Partnership Summit 2011, in Tokyo, was splattered with political, industrial and academic glitterati from both the nations. An interesting point to note in this regard is that Maruti Suzuki India Limited, set up its first industrial venture in a nondescript town of Gurgaon in 1983, and this brought about an automobile revolution in India, while Gurgaon became one of the most sought-after corporate destinations for companies from the world over. Such is the potential between India and Japan if brought to fore.

Recently, there has been an upswing in intervention between both the nations. The Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor is a case in point, the proposed 90-billion-dollar FDI inflow from Japan to develop this corridor is by far the largest that India has ever received towards a single project. Complimentarily, its heartening to note, that many schools in Delhi NCR have voluntary Japanese language classes for their students. The uptake of students is surely encouraging!

All of the above, point to a much larger and stronger bi-lateral blossoming relationship between India and Japan in the days to come. It may not be an exaggeration to say that there is a lot for you and me to learn from our counterparts in Japan and vice-versa. As part of ongoing efforts and what the future beholds, A2V Infosolutions Pvt Ltd has set forth to develop this relationship at a grassroot level – the level of common citizens. If you are interested in being a part of the change that is unfolding and playing a role in the future of relationships between both the countries, we welcome your participation towards this community initiative. For further enquiries in this regards please feel free to reach me at ankur@guruvantage.com. 

As Confucius once said, "The strength of the nation derives from the integrity of the home", let's take this opportunity to welcome our friends from beyond borders and demonstrate our cultural ethos of ‘atithi devo bhav’, by inviting them to stay with us and our families for 2 weeks in a friendly homestay environment.
 

About the Author
Maj Ankur Mehra (Retd.) is the founder of A2V Infosolutions Pvt Ltd, an bouquet consulting firm in the academic space between India and Japan. His organisation is a crusader of sorts in cross-cultural training interventions between India and Japan. Ankur is also the founder of www.guruvantage.com, which aims to dissolve the boundaries within the training industry in India by empowering a 'Trainee' in making informed decisions. The author can be reached at ankur@a2vinfosolutions.com and ankur@guruvantage.com.