NEW DELHI: The India-Japan Higher Education Conclave 2025 opened in New Delhi on Monday with OP Jindal Global University (JGU) hosting a high-level delegation from the University of Tokyo to mark the start of a six-day, tri-city India tour aimed at strengthening academic cooperation between the two countries.

Led by professor Kaori Hayashi, executive vice president for Global and Diversity Affairs at UTokyo, the delegation includes professor Yujin Yaguchi, vice president (global education), and professor Satsuki Shioyama, project research associate at GlobE.

The India tour spans Delhi, Ahmedabad and Bengaluru and is themed “Future of Global Education: India and Japan as Leaders of Knowledge and Innovation”. It forms a flagship component of JGU’s Act East mandate, designed to deepen international higher education engagement with Japan and broader Indo-Pacific.

The delegation will conclude its India tour on December 12, with both institutions expected to finalise a forward-looking roadmap for resilient, future-ready India-Japan higher-education cooperation.

Speaking at the inaugural session, JGU’s founding vice chancellor professor C Raj Kumar said, “Our exclusive partnership with the University of Tokyo opens new platforms for research innovation, circulation of scholars and robust academic linkages,” he said.

Over the course of the tour, the conclave will host policy dialogues, strategic university visits, student interactions and press engagements, shaping a long-term roadmap for joint academic programmes, research collaborations and capacity-building initiatives.

Professor Hayashi praised JGU’s commitment to diversity and inclusion, calling it “a strong foundation for future collaborations” between the two nations. Professor Yaguchi emphasised the value of academic pathways enabling students to navigate multiple systems, while professor Shioyama contributed perspectives on inclusive, gender-sensitive global education frameworks.

This story is reported by Ifrah Mufti of The New Indian Express.