Be it on the cultural front or from an economic and development perspective, India and Japan have bolstered their ties across several avenues. A recent update being the two superpowers gearing up for a 2+2 dialogue in Delhi on November 30, 2019 to discuss their defence cooperation.
Even in terms of tourism, various initiatives are being undertaken to increase tourist arrivals between both the regions. This is evident from the fact that Japan saw a 14.3 per cent increase in Indian travellers from July 2018 to July 2019.
Japan being the third largest source of Foreign Direct Investment into India and India becoming the largest recipient of Japanese official development assistance (ODA) are few instances that highlight India and Japan’s firm link.
Some notable organisations like Japan National Tourism Organisation and other individuals have contributed towards this growing India-Japan connectivity. One such personality is Dr Jyotsna Suri, chairperson and managing director, The Lalit Suri Hospitality Group. Recently, Dr Suri has been conferred with the Japanese Imperial honour – The Order of Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Star, instituted by Japanese Emperor Meiji in the year 1875 and awarded for an impressive service in civil and military fields. She is the first Indian woman to receive this honour for her work in cementing strategic ties between India and Japan in economic and tourism sectors.
She received the award from the Japanese prime minister, Shinzo Abe, in the presence of His Majesty, The Emperor at The Imperial Palace on November 7, 2019.
Chairperson of FICCI Tourism Committee, Dr Suri’s initiatives include participating in activities of the India-Japan Parliamentarians Forum; her involvement in the first India-Japan Tourism Meet in 2016 and strengthening the people-to-people connect between the two regions.
