Tokyo: President of the Japan-India Friendship Promotion Group of Wakayama Prefectural Assembly called on India’s Ambassador to Japan, Nagma Mallick, at the Indian Embassy in Tokyo on Thursday, holding discussions on increasing people-to-people ties between Wakayama and India through tourism and cultural exchanges.
“Ambassador Nagma M Mallick was pleased to welcome Mr. NIIJIMA Takeshi, President, Japan-India Friendship Promotion Group of Wakayama Prefectural Assembly, to the Embassy today,” the Embassy posted on X after the meeting.
The discussions, it said, focused on increasing people-to-people ties between Wakayama and India through tourism and cultural exchanges.
In February, Nijima Takeshi accompanied Izumi Miyazaki, Governor of Wakayama Prefecture, on a visit to India.
During the visit, Governor Miyazaki also met with the Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Devendra Fadnavis, in Mumbai.
Japan and India, particularly Maharashtra and Wakayama, have a deep and enduring partnership. Maharashtra’s decade-long sister-state partnership with Wakayama began in 2013.
“Ensuring that the bond between Maharashtra and Wakayama remains a cornerstone of Indo-Japanese friendship. Collaboration with Japan has powered transformative infrastructure in Maharashtra, including the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Sewri-Nhava Sheva Atal Setu, the expansive underground Metro network and the upcoming Bullet Train. Our dialogue focused on elevating this trusted partnership into its next phase, unlocking new avenues of collaboration across strategic sectors,” CM Fadnavis said in February.
“To further deepen this engagement, proposed a landmark project to construct a replica of the Bamiyan Buddha in Nagpur with an aim to spread the global message of peace from the very soil where MahaManav Bharat Ratna Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar embraced Buddhism,” he highlighted.
Akizuki Fuminari, Vice Speaker, Wakayama Prefectural Assembly, and Nijima Takeshi were also present during the meeting.
According to the Consulate General of India Osaka-Kobe, Uttar Pradesh Finance Minister Suresh Kumar Khanna also met with Hirohiko Iwata, Speaker, Wakayama Prefectural Assembly and Niijima Takeshi in July 2025 and discussed strengthening cultural and people-to-people ties.
(IANS)
