independence day of india - the japan...

The Japan Times PUBDATE: 8/15/20010 PAGE: 11 C M Y K OUTPUT TIME: 15:7:22

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(3) THE JAPAN TIMES SUNDAY, AUGUST 15, 2010 11

Independence Day of India

Closer engagement with Japan bears fruitCooperation on global issues, shared democratic values, bilateral economic and scientific ties help powers bring prosperity, stability to AsiaHemant Krishan SinghAMBASSADOR OF INDIA TO JAPAN

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On the happy occasion of theIndependence Day of India, Iextend my cor-dial greetingsto Their Majes-ties EmperorAkihito andEmpress Mi-chiko as well asto the govern-m e n t a n dfriendly people of Japan.

I also felicitate my fellowcitizens and persons of Indianorigin living in Japan.

The political, social andeconomic foundations of In-dia’s liberal democracy havesteadily grown in strengthand maturity over the past sixdecades. Indeed, the progres-sive institutions of India’sopen and inclusive society arenow widely recognized as thestandard-bearers for anchor-ing stability and managing di-versity through democraticprocesses. The twin goals ofsocial equity and economic ef-ficiency have been success-fully pursued by placing theentire spectrum of individualrights at the center of India’sdevelopment process. AsPrime Minister Dr. Manmo-han Singh observed in his ad-dress to the Japanese Diet inDecember 2006:

‘‘Never before have over abillion people tried to banish

poverty and modernize theirsociety and economy withinthe framework of a pluralfunctioning democracy.’’

India and Japan enjoy civili-zational affinities and shareddemocratic values. Thesebonds provide the basis for mu-tual goodwill amongst our peo-ples and underpin the biparti-san political support in bothcountries for the advancementof bilateral relations.

The transformation of In-dia-Japan relations is continu-ing apace. When they met inthe margins of the recent G-20Summit, our leaders reaf-firmed their commitment todeepen and diversify these re-lations. Prime Minister Singhis looking forward to his visitto Japan later this year for theAnnual Bilateral Summit,which will impart further mo-mentum to the India-JapanStrategic and Global Partner-ship forged in 2006.

We are also looking for-ward to the forthcoming visitof Foreign Minister KatsuyaOkada to India for the fourthannual Strategic Dialogue.The 2+2 Security Dialogue be-tween our countries has beensuccessfully launched in Julythis year. Bilateral dialogueson energy, high technologytrade and civil nuclear coop-eration are contributingmeaningfully to ties.

Despite the global economicdownturn, India’s economy has

continued to grow briskly on thestrength of domestic demand,savings, investment and enter-prise. We are confident that thistrend will accelerate and In-dia’s economy will return to itseven higher growth trajectoryof recent years in 2010. India isnow a major contributor toAsian and global economicgrowth and is playing a con-structive role as an importantmember of G-20.

Japan’s Official Develop-ment Assistance (ODA) re-mains crucial for the ongoingexpansion of India’s economicinfrastructure, which will ben-efit greatly from flagship pro-ject the Dedicated Freight Cor-ridor (DFC) and Delhi-Mum-bai Industrial Corridor(DMIC). Trade and invest-ment relations between Indiaand Japan are also rapidly in-tensifying. India’s economic

dynamism and youthful vi-brancy provide ample opportu-nities for mutually beneficialeconomic relations betweenour countries through the 21stcentury. We are both commit-ted to finalizing the India-Ja-pan Comprehensive EconomicPartnership Agreement thisyear, which will synergize ourrespective strengths and pro-vide further impetus to eco-nomic engagement.

India and Japan are work-ing together to develop anopen and inclusive architec-ture for regional integrationin Asia, which brings stabili-ty and prosperity to our re-gion. Cooperation on vitalglobal issues of counterter-rorism, maritime security,disarmament, c l imatechange and U.N. reform isbeing reinforced.

With the growth of econom-ic, scientific and academicties, people-to-people ex-changes between our coun-tries are intensifying. Chairsof Indian studies are being es-tablished at the University ofTokyo and Ryukoku Univer-sity in Kyoto. The IndianChambers of Commerce(ICCJ), Tokyo is actively en-gaged in deepening socioeco-nomic linkages. With its am-ple facilities, the Indian Cul-tural Centre of the Embassyof India will play an ever in-creasing role of projectingIndia’s soft power in yearsahead.

I am confident that thecoming year will see the fur-ther enhancement of friend-ship between India and Ja-pan. We look forward toworking closely with the Jap-anese government, businessand industry and the public atlarge to realize the commondesire of our two great peo-ples for universal peace andprogress.

2010 Commonwealth Gamescome to Delhi from Oct. 3-14

Since the start of the new millennium, there has been a kind ofawakening for sports in India’s government andnongovernment sectors. Corporations are willing to invest insports and support athletes.

The bar in certain disciplines, particularly in shooting, weightlifting,wrestling, boxing, badminton and tennis, has been sufficiently raisedto help stars win laurels in international competitions. This suddenrise in sporting standards and culture has caused widespreadsurprise worldwide. India is now on the march trying to adhere to theOlympic slogan of ‘‘Faster, Higher and Stronger.’’

In the last Commonwealth Games, in Melbourne, Australia, in2006, India shocked all, including its ardent admirers, by winning 22gold medals, 17 silvers and 11 bronzes (a total of 50 medals).

The Delhi 2010 Commonwealth Games will make India thesecond Asian country to host the sporting extravaganza, which willsee about 6,000 participants from 71 countries and 4,000 officials.The first was Malaysia in 1998, when it was held in Kuala Lumpur.

In Delhi, all six 1982 Asian Games-created stadiums —Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, National Stadium (Dhyan Chand), IndiraGandhi Indoor Stadium, Talkatora Indoor Stadium, TalkatoraStadium, Cycling Velodrome and Karni Singh Shooting Ranges —are being modernized with ultramodern features.

High hopes: Indian boxer and three-time world championMary Kom carries the Commonwealth Games baton, whichcontains a message to the athletes from Queen Elizabeth II, inAmritsar, India, on June 25. AP

President Smt. Pratibha Devisingh PatilPrime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh


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12 THE JAPAN TIMES SUNDAY, AUGUST 15, 2010 (3)

India independence day

Farsighted leadership increases presenceYoshiro MoriCHAIRMAN, JAPAN-INDIA ASSOCIATION

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I feel very privileged to conveythe warmest congratulations,on the occasionof the 63rd anni-versary of Inde-pendence Day inIndia, to the peo-ple and govern-ment of India onbehalf of all themembers of theJapan-India Association and onmy behalf as its chairman.

It is my great pleasure tonote that the past year has wit-nessed an accelerated develop-ment of the Japan-India rela-tionship in all aspects. I wouldlike to stress that our cordial re-lationship has been reinforcedin the true spirit of ‘‘The Strate-gic Global Partnership be-tween Japan and India.’’

I am gratified to mentionthat, pushed by the stable andefficient government and anever vibrant economy, India’spresence and her importancein international politics andthe global economy have in-creased tremendously underthe far-sighted leadership ofDr. Manmohan Singh, theprime minister of India. In

spite of the change of primeminister in Japan from YukioHatoyama to Naoto Kan, wecontinue to enjoy our alreadyexcellent relations.

In our bilateral relations, Iam happy to note that two bigprojects between our countries,namely the construction of theDelhi-Mumbai DedicatedFreight Corridor and the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor,have entered the stage of imple-mentation and that other Japa-nese ODA projects in India, in-cluding urban subway systemconstruction projects in Banga-lore, Chennai, Kolkata in addi-tion to Delhi, are all on the righttrack. Also noteworthy is the in-crease of Japanese direct in-vestment to India that resulted,in 2009, in the presence ofaround 630 Japanese compa-nies all over India.

I witnessed all these posi-tive developments when I vis-ited Japanese factories andJapanese business communi-ties in Chennai and Delhi inearly March this year.

It is expected also under theleaderships of Prime Minis-ters Kan and Singh that theprotracted negotiations forthe conclusion of the Japan-In-dia Economic Partnership

Agreement will be crownedwith successful conclusion bythe time of the visit of PrimeMinister Singh sometime laterthis year.

Since June, the long-await-ed negotiations have finallystarted to conclude in a bilat-eral agreement for coopera-tion on civil nuclear energy.The contribution of provenJapanese technology andequipment in this sector willbe great and bring very posi-tive results both to India’s eco-nomic growth and the fightagainst global warming.

The number of Indian IT en-gineers and other business-people who visit and stay inJapan has been increasing.They reside and constitute In-dian communities in Japan insuch places as Nishi-Kasai ineastern Tokyo in addition toYokohama and Kobe. Indian

restaurants are mushroomingin major cities in Japan.

It is also my pleasure to notethat cooperation between Ja-pan and India in the fields ofscience and technology isgaining further momentum.Cultural exchanges betweenthe two countries are expand-ing and deepening. For in-stance, Namaste India, a big-scale cultural and popularevent organized in YoyogiPark, Tokyo, is expecting thisyear many more than the150,000 visitors who enjoyedthe event toward the end ofSeptember last year.

The promised project tolaunch a new Indian Instituteof Technology (IIT) in Hyder-abad, Andhra Pradesh, is on-going with the assistance ofthe Japan International Coop-eration Agency and Japaneseuniversities.

Our two countries, on themultilateral front, are destinedto cooperate jointly to contrib-ute to the global community forthe solution of such global prob-lems as nuclear disarmament,the nonproliferation of weaponsof mass destruction, the pre-vention of climate change andthe reform of the United Na-tions Security Council. The Ja-pan-India Association, with ahistory of 107 years, renews itsdetermination to make the ut-most efforts for further better-ment of our very important re-lationship.

On this auspicious occa-sion, let me pray that the ex-cellent Japan-India relation-ship brings more happinessto our two peoples and thatthe two nations contribute tothe peace and prosperity ofthe international communityat large.

Sea link bringsease to MumbaiIt rises out of the blue-graywaters with its two main tow-ers disappearing into the low-slung monsoon clouds andstretches for 5.6 km to connecttwo busy points of India’s fi-nancial hub Mumbai acrossthe Arabian Sea. India’s firstopen-sea bridge, the RajivGandhi Bandra-Worli SeaLink is a cable-held engineer-ing marvel that heralds a newera in infrastructure consoli-dation in the country.

Ten years in the making,the bridge, which was inaugu-rated recently, has used near-ly 40,000 tons of steel, 90,000tons of concrete, weighs270,000 tons and cost $327 mil-lion. The high-speed, open,eight-lane carriageway,which is 9 meters above the

surface of the water, rests ontwo main towers, each equiva-lent to a 43-story building, and180 steel piers to weather therough waves.

The two main towers con-necting the cables that hold upthe bridge rise in a giganticbut perfect ‘‘Namaste,’’ thetraditional Indian greeting. Italso has two cable bridges, one500 meters long on the north-ern side and another 350 me-ters long on the southern side,to allow the passage of fishingboats below.

The bridge — which wasconceived way back in 1963 —encompasses some of the mostmodern security systems, in-cluding electronic ‘‘eyes’’ onthe top and underneath.

The project involved some

3,000 professionals from 11countries, including China,Egypt, Singapore, Thailand,and even Serbia and Switzer-land.

Beyond the figures and the

technical expertise, however,is the sheer ease that it hasbrought to the lives of millionsof Mumbaikars, as the resi-dents of the city are known, bycutting down driving time.

The 8-km distance betweensuburban Bandra and Worli,in the central part of the city,which used to take 60 to 90 min-utes to cover during the morn-ing and evening rush hours,can now be completed in a flatsix to eight minutes.

Bypassing 23 signals thatcommuters have to presentlyendure, it is a new alternativeto the existing Mahim Cause-way, where daily traffic vol-ume had exceeded 1.4 millionvehicles, leading to massivetraffic snarls, especially dur-ing rush hours.

Authorities hope to seesome 150,000 vehicles use thesea link each day for a tollaround 100 rupees per trip(about $2), depending on thesize of the automobile.

Regardless of the toll, resi-dents are thrilled with the lat-est infrastructure wonder thatcurves 1 km away from shoreand cuts out so much of theirdrudgery.

‘‘I was born in the city andhave seen it grow and developin the past four decades. Thebridge has completely flooredme: the beautiful approacheson both sides, the majesty ofthis great city zooming past.. . . It is most impressive,’’added investment consultantNigam R. Pandya.

The BWSL Chief EngineerS.M. Sabnis of the Maharash-tra State Road DevelopmentCorp. (MSRDC) said, ‘‘wehave done our best and arehappy that everybody hasliked it. It has been a tremen-dous morale-booster for myentire team.’’

Sabnis said that the new linkbetween the southern islandcity and the northwest sub-urbs would last for over a cen-tury with proper mainte-nance.

He said it could withstandearthquakes of very high in-tensity and stormy gales ofover 125 kph, the maximum onthis stretch of the Konkancoast.

Even the highest recordedwaves of 6 meters would notdisturb traffic movement onthe carriageway, Sabnis ex-plained.

Sabnis and his team are nowfocused on completing the re-maining 20 percent of the workon the second four-lane car-riageway.

‘‘Then, traffic movementwill be greatly enhanced on allthe eight lanes that make upthe bridge,‘‘ he said.-------------------------------

With information provided by theEmbassy of India.---------------------------------------

Prosperous bilateral relationshipemerges from shared interestsYasuo FukudaVICE PRESIDENT, JAPAN-INDIA

PARLIAMENTARIANS’ FRIENDSHIP

LEAGUE

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On behalf of the Japan-IndiaParliamentarians’ FriendshipLeague, I wouldlike to conveymy heartfeltcongratulationson the occasionof the 63rdanniversary ofIndia’sIndependenceDay.

Japan and India havecontinued to enjoy friendlyrelations founded on a longhistory of exchanges. We sharestrategic interests and uphold

common values such asdemocracy, human rights, ruleof law and a market economy.

It gives me great pleasure tonote that the relationshipbetween Japan and India hasbeen consolidated under theJapan-India Strategic andGlobal Partnership. In thisregard, the successful visit bythen Prime Minister YukioHatoyama to India in December2009 has moved ourrelationship to a new stage.Political and securitycooperation has been furtherdeepened and strengthenedincluding through theJapan-India 2 + 2 Dialogue,which was agreed upon at theAnnual Summit in December2009.

Economic relations are alsoexpanding at a rapid pace.Total trade volume betweenthe two countries has doubledin the past five years andforeign direct investment (FDI)from Japan to India hasincreased tenfold over the pastseveral years.

As the vice president of theJapan-India Parliamentarians’Friendship League, I would liketo express my enduringcommitment to activelycontributing to the furtherstrengthening of ourpartnership.

I send my best wishes to thepeople of India for their furtherprosperity and for the continueddevelopment of our cordialrelationship.

Dialogue: Indian Ambassador Hemant Krishan Singh gives aspeech at the Japan-India Nuclear Energy CooperationForum, held at the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo on March 29 andorganized by the International Friendship ExchangeCouncil. THE INTERNATIONAL FRIENDSHIP EXCHANGE COUNCIL

Engineering marvel: Completed in 2009, the Rajiv Gandhi Bandra-Worli Sea Link is India’s first open-sea bridge, connectingtwo busy points of Mumbai and cutting commuting time. EMBASSY OF INDIA


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Progress boosts world economyNobuo OhashiCHAIRMAN, JAPAN-INDIA BUSINESS

COOPERATION COMMITTEE

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On behalf of the Japan-IndiaBusiness Cooperation Commit-tee (JIBCC), it is my pleasureto extend mymost sincerecongratulati o n s to the people o fIndia on the oc-casion of the63rd anniversa-ry of India’s in-dependence.

We hold your country in highesteem for having built a mod-ern, unified nation under ademocratic system of govern-ment, based on a long history ofcivilization, embracing 1.1 bil-lion people of diverse ethnicidentities and of different reli-gions over a vast expanse ofland.

The second Singh Cabinettook office after the ruling par-ty’s success in the general elec-tions held from April to Maylast year. Under the strongframework of the Singh admin-istration, economic liberaliza-tion policies are being promot-ed and the nation is graduallyovercoming the negative influ-

ence of the Lehman crisis andthe European financial crisisthat erupted in May. India’seconomic growth rate for thisfiscal year is forecast at 8.5 per-cent, a 1.1 percent increaseover the previous year. TheJapanese business communityis very encouraged to see Indiastanding alongside China as adriver behind both the Asianand the world economy.

Turning to Japan-India rela-tions, the Prime Minister YukioHatoyama visited India at theend of December last year. Atthe end of April this year, Min-ister of Economy, Trade and In-dustry Masayuki Naoshimavisited India and engaged indiscussions with Indian leadersabout the Japan-India Econom-ic Partnership Agreement(EPA), the Delhi-Mumbai In-dustrial Corridor Project a n dcooperation in the field of nucle-ar power.

Government negotiations tocreate a Japan-India EPA havebeen held 13 times to date, andthe prime ministers of our twocountries pledged at the end oflast year that they would reachan agreement at the time ofPrime Minister ManmohanSingh’s visit to Japan this year.

On behalf of the Japanesebusiness community, I wouldlike to express my strong hopethat an effective agreementwill be reached by the end of theyear.

Foundational work for thelaunch of the Delhi-MumbaiIndustrial Corridor Project isadvancing steadily. WhenMinister Naoshima visitedIndia, an agreement wasreached with the related Indi-an organizations that the fourJapanese consortiums in-volved in the joint projects tobuild eco-friendly citiesalong the industrial corridorwould conduct feasibilitystudies in four cities. TheJapanese business communi-ty looks forward to partici-pating actively in the project,as it has in the past, in cooper-ation with the Japanese gov-ernment.

In closing, we trust that In-dia will sustain its remarkableprogress under its policies tofurther increase economicopenness. The JIBCC will as-siduously advance its effortsto ensure that economic ex-change will continue to en-hance the ties between our twonations and peoples.

Economic potential growsfor business communitiesHiromasa YonekuraCHAIRMAN, NIPPON KEIDANREN

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On behalf of Nippon Keidanren,I would like to offer my sincerecongratulations on the occasionof India’s 63rdIndepende n c eDay.

E x pectationsare runninghigh for Asia torealize itsgrowth potentialand play a lead-ing role in achieving the sus-tainable growth of the globaleconomy. India is increasing itsposition as one of the world’smajor emerging economies,weathering the worst globaleconomic crisis in our time andshowing robust economicgrowth, estimated to reach 8percent for 2010, on the back ofstrong domestic demand. In re-cent years, trade and invest-

ment between India and Japanhave been growing remark-ably. The number of Japanesecompanies doing business in In-dia reached 627 last year.

The potential of the econom-ic cooperation between Indiaand Japan continues to grow.At the summit meeting heldlast year, then Prime MinisterYukio Hatoyama and IndianPrime Minister ManmohanSingh discussed moving for-ward with India-Japan joint de-velopment initiatives, such asthe Delhi-Mumbai IndustrialCorridor (DMIC) Project andthe construction of the WesternCorridor under the D e d i c a t e dFreight Corridor (DFC) Pro-ject. We the Japanese businesscommunity will continue to pro-vide full support for these col-laborations, which we believewill contribute to the economicdevelopment of the Asian re-gion as a whole.

As the public and privatesectors of India and Japanwork together to build a stron-ger bilateral economic rela-tionship, an Economic Part-nership Agreement (EPA)will be an essential founda-tion. The Indian and Japanesebusiness communities havebeen advocating EPAs andsincerely hope that the gov-ernments will agree at thenext India-Japan summit toconclude the EPA.

The ties between the Indianand Japanese business com-munities have continued tostrengthen over recent years.At the Japan-India BusinessLeaders Forum, which beganin 2007 based on the proposalfrom Prime Minister Singh,we meet to exchange views onhow to enhance our bilateraleconomic relationship. Addedto this is the Asian BusinessSummit, which was launched

this year for promoting coop-eration among the Asian busi-ness communities. The firstmeeting of the summit, host-ed by Nippon Keidanren, washeld in Tokyo this past March,bringing together the leadersof 13 economic organizationsfrom Asian countries, includ-ing the Confederation of Indi-an Industry (CII).

There will be more opportu-nities in the future for cooper-ation between India and Ja-pan, which share the values of

democracy and a free marketeconomy. I am convinced thatby working more closely to-gether in a broader range ofareas, the two countries willbe able to make significantcontributions to the furtherdevelopment of Asian econo-mies. We the Japanese busi-ness community will continueour vigorous efforts tostrengthen our relationshipwith India and unleash the fullpotential of bilateral econom-ic cooperation.

India remains a major destination for investment

Ryuko HiraHONORARY PRESIDENT, IMAY &

ICCJ-TOKYO

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On behalf of the members of theIndian Merchants Associationof Yokohama(IMAY) and theIndian Chamberof Commerceand Industry,Japan, Tokyo(ICCJ), I conveyour heartiest fe-licitations on the63rd anniversary of the Inde-pendence Day of India.

Although IMAY was estab-lished 89 years ago we could nowestablish ICCJ with the supportof the Embassy of India in To-kyo. With its launch, the long feltneed of Indian enterprises oper-ating in Japan for having theirown comprehensive and profes-sional apex chamber of com-merce has finally been realized.

ICCJ Tokyo has been supple-menting efforts of the IndianEmbassy to promote India-Ja-pan economic engagement andaims to provide support, guid-ance and offer consultancy andadvisory services to interestedparties to enable them to exploitfully the potential for businessbetween Japan and India.

Signing a memorandum withthe Confederation of Indian In-

dustry (CII) for the exchange ofinformation on economic andcommercial matters and thesuccessful campaign for invest-ment for the megaproject Indi-an Highways InfrastructureProgram are some of the majorachievements of ICCJ duringthe year.

According to a recent surveycovering 620 Japanese manu-facturing companies, India re-mains the second-favorite in-vestment destination for Japa-nese companies after C h i n a .Fifty-eight percent of the com-panies surveyed wanted to dobusiness with India in the medi-um term. The survey reflectsJapanese companies’ mounting

interests in Indian businesses,especially in sectors such as au-tomobiles, IT, infrastructure,steel, power and pharmaceuti-cals. Hence, there will be asurge in bilateral trade, invest-ment and business opportuni-ties between these two leadingeconomies of Asia.

I recall the president of In-dia’s message on the eve of the60th anniversary of our Inde-pendence Day: ‘‘As we watchthe tricolor unfurl t o m o r r o wmorning, let us all hold ourheads high with pride and confi-dence and look ahead with opti-mism toward a better andbrighter future for our great na-tion.’’ Jai hind!

Japanese aid allows development of freight infrastructureOn July 26, the government ofIndia and the Japan Interna-tional Cooperation Agency(JICA) signed a Japanese Of-ficial Development Assis-tance loan agreement for theDedicated Freight CorridorProject (Phase 2) with a totallimit of ¥1.616 billion. The Spe-cial Terms for EconomicPartnership (STEP) is ap-plied and advanced Japanesetechnology will be utilized forthe project.

(STEP is a scheme createdto promote development as-sistance with a distinct Japa-nese profile through technol-ogy transfer, utilizing ad-vanced Japanese technologyand knowhow, to developingcountries).

In this second phase of theDFC Project, a total of 552 kmof a rail corridor for freighttraffic (Dadri to Rewari andVadodara to Mumbai), which ispart of the Western Corridor be-tween Delhi and Mumbai (ap-proximately 1,500 km), will be

constructed. It follows the firstphase of the DFC Project,which constructed a dedicatedfreight corridor between Rewa-ri and Vadodara. Under theDFC Project, a dedicatedfreight railway line will be con-structed with fully automatedsignals and communicationsystems and locomotives capa-ble of providing high-speed,high-capacity freight transpor-tation. By catering to the rapidgrowth in freight volume, thisproject will make a far-reaching contribution towardIndia’s economic development.The loan will be allocated to theengagement of engineering ser-vices consultants to undertakea review of the basic design andtender preparation.

Since economic reforms be-gan in 1991, India’s economyhas achieved an annualgrowth rate of between 5 per-cent and 8 percent, bringinggreat attention to India as oneof the BRIC countries, whichare known for remarkable

economic growth (the otherBRICs being Brazil, Russiaand China). India has shownsigns of a quick recovery fromthe world economic crisis,maintaining a steady, highrate of growth, estimated at 7percent in 2009.

Along with this rapid de-velopment, the volume offreight traffic has increasedby 15 percent per annum,stretching the existing raillines to the limits of their car-rying capacity. The develop-ment and upgrading of therailway system with exclu-sive corridors for freighttransportation between im-portant growth centers with-in the country is, therefore, apressing agenda for India ifIndia is to sustain such highrates of economic growth. Inorder to enable mass trans-portation along the trunkrailways, the Indian govern-ment is expanding routes, in-troducing high-speed freighttrains and improving accessto port facilities as part of its10th (2002 to 2007) and 11th(2007 to 2012) Five-YearPlans.

In light of the growth poli-cy of the Indian government,then Prime Minister Junichi-ro Koizumi made a jointstatement during a visit to In-dia in 2005 regarding the Jap-anese government’s inten-tion to look into the possibili-

ty of supporting the WesternDFC Project through Japa-nese ODA loans. After thedeclaration, sustained sup-port has been provided to theIndian government for theformulation and implemen-tation of the project.

In May 2006, JICA per-formed a development studyfor project formation. In Octo-ber 2009, an engineering ser-vice loan of ¥2.6 billion wasprovided for the Phase 1 sec-tion, and in March 2010, a loanof ¥90.3 billion was providedfor construction of the Phase 1section.

The DFC Project is an im-portant part of the Delhi-Mum-bai Industrial Corridor (DMIC)initiative, which is a flagshipJapanese-Indian collaborativeproject for comprehensive in-frastructure development. TheDMIC has been conceptualizedto eventually become India’slargest industrial belt bylinking the industrial parks andharbors of the six states be-tween Delhi and Mumbai in or-der to promote foreign exportsand direct investment, particu-larly those from Japan. Underthe DMIC initiative, plans arealso being developed to createindustrial parks and logisticshubs with well-developed infra-structure extending up to 150km on both sides of the WesternDFC Corridor.

In addition to being the larg-

est consumer in the country,the National Capital Regionaround Delhi is making prog-ress in manufacturing, com-merce and agriculture. Thewestern coastline of India,centered around Mumbai, ishome to several prosperousdeep-water ports, and contain-er traffic between these partsand the interior regions is ex-pected to increase rapidly asindustrial areas continue todevelop.

Since more than 250 Japa-nese companies are located inthe area around the WesternDFC Corridor, such improve-ments to alleviate the trans-portation problems impedingbusiness are expected to bebeneficial not only to Indian,but also to the many Japanesebusinesses that have a stakehere.

Furthermore, the totalamount of ODA loans allocat-ed to the DFC Project is ex-pected to be among the larg-est ever not only to India butalso in the world, and it ishoped that the cooperativeimplementation of the DFCProject by Japan and Indiawill become a new symbol ofpartnership between the twocountries.-------------------------------

With information provided by theJapan International CooperationAgency.---------------------------------------


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Green policies revive ‘golden fiber’Once associated with dowdysacks for the cement, sugar andfertilizer industries, the $1 bil-lion Indian jute industry is get-ting an image makeover thanksto better designed goods madewith this ‘‘golden fiber,’’ risingenvironmental concern andnew marketing strategies.

In India, cultivation of j u t ehas been ongoing for severalmillenniums. But organized de-velopment of the industry start-ed in the 17th century and thefirst mill was established in1855 at Rishra, near Kolkata.

A wide range of everydayproducts is available todaymade with jute, of which Indiais not just the largest producer,accounting for 60 percent ofworld output, but also consum-er and exporter.

Such merchandise, which isalso making its way to discern-ing markets in the U.S. and Eu-rope, includes table mats,coasters, cushion covers, cur-tains, doormats, belts, andeven school bags carried bymillions of children.

‘‘There are so many attrac-

tive items made of jute. It’s sofashionable today. And the bestpart is that it is eco-friendly, re-usable,’’ said Atri Bhattachar-ya, secretary of the Jute Manu-factures Development Council,one of the several organizationspromoted by the government tohelp the industry.

Designers and traders injute goods said that, in bagsalone, the offerings today in-clude not just the traditionaljute-based sacks but also

clutch bags, party bags, laun-dry bags, rucksacks, gunnybags, totes, shopping bags andwine bags.

The merchandise is avail-able across the country, in-cluding at upscale stores.

These, the retailers said, al-so cater to the tastes of well-heeled shoppers.-------------------------------

With information provided by theEmbassy of India.---------------------------------------

Annual festival aids Japan-India exchangeA wonderland of Indian culturewill appear in Yoyogi Park inTokyo in September during the18th Namaste India Festival.

The festival was inauguratedin 1993 by the Japan-India Busi-ness Cooperation Committee(JIBCC) in collaboration withthe Asian Club Foundation.

‘‘For the expansion of bilat-eral economic exchanges, Jap-anese businesspeople have toknow more about the culture ofthe partner country. That wasthe idea of the original organiz-er,’’ said Tokio Hasegawa, di-rector of Mithila Museum inNiigata Prefecture, who hassupported the event since it be-gan.

As Japan-India economic in-teraction has progressed, theannual festival has developedinto one of Japan’s largest Indi-

an cultural events, havingchanged its venue from SumidaWard City Hall to Tsukiji Hon-ganji Temple to Yoyogi Park.Last year, over 140,000 peopleshowed up for the event.

Today, the festival is o r g a -nized by the Executive Com-mittee for Namaste India Festi-val, with support from the Em-bassy of India in Japan, theIndia Government Tourist Of-fice in Tokyo, the nonprofit or-ganization Society to PromoteIndia-Japan Cultural Rela-tions, Mithila Museum andmany other organizations andbusinesses in India and Japan.

Aiming to provide visitorswith opportunities to learn andexperience the diverse natureof Indian culture, the festivalincludes traditional dance, mu-sic, lectures and films, while al-

lowing visitors a chance towear a sari, practice yoga, orexperience ‘‘ayurveda’’ mas-sages and treatments, and‘‘mehndi’’ (traditional Indianbody art). There will also be anart exhibition, book fairs, ba-zaars, tea corners and Indianfood at the festival.

Booths will be set up forgroups that are associated withIndia, such as the Japan-IndiaAssociation, the Government ofIndia Ministry of Tourism, AirIndia, Bank of India, the StateBank of India and other spon-soring corporations, as well ascompanies that have estab-lished themselves in India. Alottery will be held with variousprizes provided by the spon-sors, including round-trip tick-ets to India.

This year, the event space is

30 percent larger than lastyear, according to Hasegawa,who says the extra space willmainly be to provide variouslectures and workshops.

Among the highlights is thepresentation of folk art. Thisyear, five folk artists will travelfrom India and show the cre-ative process of bamboo crafts,pottery and painting. Largestatues more than 4 metershigh will be created during thefestival. In the ElephantSquare, which was popular lastyear, children can have funwith bamboo elephants.

‘‘At Mithila Museum, locatedin a mountainous, snowy, re-mote area of Niigata Prefec-ture, we have collected a num-ber of Indian folk art and haveinvited Indian artists as artistsin residence,’’ Hasegawa

said.‘ ‘ I believe that this collec-tion and the relationships wehave made over the yearshave enabled us to organizesuch art programs (for thefestival).’’

Another attraction are thevarious stage performances,including dances rangingfrom those in Indian movies toclassical, and traditional mu-sic played on the sitar and vi-na. As the festival has grown,so has the competition forthose wishing to perform atthe event, which enhances thequality of the performances,according to Hasegawa. Thisyear, around 200 artists, bothJapanese who are learning In-dian culture and Indian art-ists dispatched by the IndianCouncil for Cultural Rela-tions, will perform, including

Indian ‘‘enka’’ singer Chada,who is making another ap-pearance.

From the aspect of culturalexchange, the festival alsopresents a traditional ‘‘taiko’’

performance by Japanesechildren and ethnic culture ofthe Ainu.

‘‘Namaste India Festivalprovides exposure to a differ-ent culture,’’ Hasegawa said.

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Namaste India Festival 2010takes place Sept. 25-26 at theYoyogi Park in Shibuya Ward,Tokyo.For more information, visitwww.indofestival.com---------------------------------------

Fashionable: Natural jute has become a trendy material.

Summer wonderland: More than 140,000 people attend the Namaste India Festival in YoyogiPark in 2009. NPO SOCIETY TO PROMOTE INDIA-JAPAN CULTURAL RELATIONS / MITHILA MUSEUM

Fun time: Traditional Indian dance (above) and bambooelephants (below) are among the Namaste India Festival’smany attractions.

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