Professor C Raj Kumar and Dr Shashi Tharoor address Japanese lawmakers as JGU Deepens India–Japan Academic Ties

Professor C Raj Kumar, Founding Vice Chancellor (VC) of OP Jindal Global University (JGU), and Dr Shashi Tharoor, Member of Parliament (MP), India, addressed a bipartisan gathering of members of the National Diet of Japan at the National Diet Building in Tokyo.

Their addresses highlighted the complementary roles of higher education and parliamentary diplomacy in advancing one of Asia’s most important democratic partnerships through research, innovation, academic collaboration, and people-to-people engagement.

The interaction coincided with the official visit of the Prime Minister of Japan to India and the India–Japan Annual Summit with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

As per a press release, the discussions in Tokyo demonstrated that enduring bilateral relationships are strengthened not only by governments but also by parliaments, universities, scholars, students, industry, and civil society.

The event also highlighted JGU’s commitment to advancing India–Japan relations through higher education. JGU has established academic partnerships with 27 Japanese universities, while nearly 200 JGU students are currently participating in short-term study abroad programmes across Japan.

The interaction was chaired by Fukushiro Nukaga, the 80^th Speaker of the House of Representatives of Japan, and brought together a bipartisan gathering of Members of the National Diet representing both the House of Representatives and the House of Councillors. The meeting was attended by senior parliamentary leaders, former ministers, government representatives, eminent diplomats, distinguished academics, policy experts, and industry leaders from across Japan. The breadth of participation reflected Japan’s strong bipartisan commitment to strengthening parliamentary dialogue, educational cooperation, democratic engagement, innovation, and institutional partnerships with India.

Professor C Raj Kumar spoke of the indispensable role of universities in shaping the future of international relations. He observed that institutions of higher learning today are far more than centres of education. He said that they are global platforms where ideas cross borders, innovation flourishes, research addresses common challenges, and future leaders learn to work together across cultures and nations.

Professor Raj Kumar noted that Asia’s evolving geopolitical landscape demonstrates that the strongest international partnerships are patiently built through sustained investments in education, research, technology, human capital, institutional cooperation, and innovation. India and Japan, he said, possess a unique opportunity to deepen their relationship further by investing in universities, scientific collaboration, entrepreneurship, academic mobility, and knowledge partnerships.

He called for a future in which Indian and Japanese universities work even more closely together, researchers jointly address global challenges, students move more freely between both countries, and governments, industry, and academia collectively develop solutions for the Indo-Pacific and beyond. Such investments, he argued, create relationships that are resilient because they are founded not only on policy but also on people.

Highlighting JGU’s own engagement with Japan, Professor Raj Kumar noted that the University’s partnerships with 27 leading Japanese institutions and the participation of nearly 200 students in study abroad programmes across Japan reflect a sustained institutional commitment to building long-term academic cooperation. These partnerships have strengthened student mobility, faculty collaboration, joint research, innovation, and intercultural understanding, demonstrating how universities can serve as enduring bridges between nations.

Professor Raj Kumar observed that higher education has become one of the defining pillars of contemporary India–Japan relations because universities cultivate trust, mutual understanding, leadership, and lifelong friendships that strengthen bilateral cooperation across generations.

Concluding his address, Professor Raj Kumar remarked that if the twentieth century laid the foundations of trust between India and Japan, the twenty-first century must become the century in which that trust is transformed into a comprehensive partnership driven by knowledge, technology, sustainability, innovation, entrepreneurship, and shared democratic values. Sharing the platform with Dr Shashi Tharoor, he described the occasion as a powerful affirmation of the complementary roles that higher education and parliamentary diplomacy can play in advancing one of Asia’s most significant strategic partnerships.

Complementing this institutional perspective, Dr Shashi Tharoor reflected on the equally important role of parliamentary diplomacy and observed that diplomacy is not merely about negotiating interests or responding to crises. At its finest, he said, diplomacy preserves memory, reflects mutual respect, and inspires nations to imagine and build a better future together.

Reflecting on the centuries-old relationship between India and Japan, Dr Tharoor noted that the friendship between the two countries has been nurtured through Buddhism, cultural exchange, democratic values, and deep civilisational respect. This shared history, he remarked, is not only a source of pride but also a responsibility. The challenge before both nations is not to create a new friendship but to continually renew and strengthen an enduring one through institutions capable of serving future generations.

Dr Tharoor emphasised that while governments create strategic partnerships, it is ultimately people who sustain them. The future of India–Japan relations, he suggested, will depend as much upon the relationships built among students, scholars, parliamentarians, entrepreneurs, artists, innovators, scientists, and citizens as upon agreements signed by governments. These enduring human connections transform strategic cooperation into lasting partnership.

Members of the National Diet spoke warmly of their longstanding engagement with India and expressed admiration for India’s civilisational heritage, democratic traditions, constitutional institutions, economic transformation, and expanding global role. They reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening parliamentary exchanges, educational partnerships, academic collaboration, scientific research, innovation, and people-to-people ties between the two democracies.

The discussions reflected a shared conviction that the future of India–Japan relations will not be shaped solely by diplomacy, economics, or security cooperation but equally by the strength of democratic institutions, universities, research collaborations, cultural understanding, and the opportunities created for young people to learn from one another.

The addresses delivered by Professor C Raj Kumar and Dr Shashi Tharoor reaffirmed the central role of democratic institutions, higher education, research, innovation, and people-to-people engagement in advancing peace, prosperity, sustainability, and stability across the Indo-Pacific and beyond.