On the evening of Sept 22, 2006, India Center, celebrated the 10th Anniversary of its founding. It was the commemoration of a decade with the slogan “Two Nations, One Goal.” The celebration, held at the Hotel Capitol Tokyu in Tokyo, Japan, was attended by the leading personalities of Japanese society to commemorate India Center’s work and achievements.

Prominent well-wishers who attended were- Shinzo Abe, the Prime Minister of Japan, Yoshiro Mori, former Prime Minister of Japan, Yukio Hatoyama & Naoto Kan, former leaders of the opposition Democratic Party of Japan, Hidenao Nakagawa, Secretary General, Liberal Democratic Party of Japan, Vijay Darda & Gireesh Sanghi, members of Indian Parliament, Congress Party, H.E. Hemant Kumar, Indian Ambassador to Japan - and a host of other opinion leaders, intellectuals and policy makers.

Welcoming the audience and thanking everyone for their warmth and cooperation over the past ten years, Vibhav Kant Upadhyay, Chairperson of India Center said, “....this is the Asian Era and India, Japan and China are the three pillars of Asia….a strong India Japan relationship would help promote peace and development in Asia and the world….” Yoshimi Ishikawa, Director General of India Center also welcomed the distinguished gathering highlighting the role of India Center in strengthening the ties between the India and Japan.

Yasuo Fukuda, former Chief Cabinet Secretary and member of Parliament, Liberal Democratic Party of Japan proposed the evening’s toast, to the success of- India Center’s 10th Anniversary and future developments towards strengthening Indo Japan ties.

Shinzo Abe, on the eve of his momentous election as Prime Minister of Japan, made his presence felt and acknowledged India Center’s contribution to strengthening India-Japan relations. Speaking about the Chairperson of India Center, Shinzo Abe said, “….I have not seen another person like Vibhav who has dedicated his life for the cause of educated me about India. He urged me to visit India, which I did last year.” Extolling Vibhav Upadhyay’s passion and persistence, Shinzo Abe remarked, “….Vibhav’s passion can move a rock….”

He also spoke about his visit to India last year on the initiative of India Center, where he met several important persons including the Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh. He observed that India and China were growing powers of Asia and stressed on the need for strengthening relations between them and Japan, particularly when, “….India and Japan share such common values as Freedom, Democracy and Basic Human Rights….I am convinced that we have a lot to learn from India. India can be a strong partner of Japan in creating a new phase in Asia’s history. We also need this partnership for our mutual development,” he said. He ended his speech wishing for India Center and Vibhav Kant Upadhyay to play an even greater role in strengthening India Japan Relations.

Yoshiro Mori, former Prime Minister, remarked that “Abe cancelled his other important engagements to be here. It shows how much he values our relationship with India. His presence here also shows his high estimation of the contribution of the India Center to the transformation of Japan-India relations from the frozen state they were in a decade ago to the promising phase they have entered now.”

Kan Naoto, a well-respected former leader of the opposition, was even more forthright. He said, “We may have differences domestically on Japan-China relations, but there are no differences whatsoever on Japan-India relations. It is Mori and Vibhav who brought this relationship with India for us.”
Yukio Hatoyama, leader of the opposition Democratic Party of Japan spoke of the non-partisan nature of India Center which encouraged both the ruling parties and opposition parties to come together in a common cause of creating a strong relationship between India and Japan.

On this occasion, Shinzo Abe also launched the “Voice Of India” (www.voiceofindia.co.jp), a news and information web magazine an initiative of India Center. Voice Of India is aimed at being the preferred news and information gateway about India in Japanese.