~ Accompanied by a high-powered delegation from Gujarat led by Chief Minister Narendra Modi landed in Japan on 14th April for eight days trip. A fifty member delegation comprising of Chief Executives of various Indian corporations and senior officials from the state of Gujarat. The delegation visited various places including Hyogo prefecture and Hiroshima prefecture, supported by India Center as a bridge map between Japan and India.

Delhi-Mumbai Freight Corridor was one of India-Center's long-term vision, We had proposed this to both countries' top policy makers, and now it taking a shape. Moreover, our vision is not only Delhi-Mumbai Freight Corridor, but also development of the SEZs around the corridor, Corridor between Kolkata to Ludhiana via to Delhi, Kolkata to Chennai, and Chennai to Mumbai. We have vision of introduce Bullet train at the same area.

~ India Center along with others organized Namaste India 2006, a socio - cultural and economic festival, in Yoyogi Park, in the heart of Tokyo, which was attended by over 150,000 people with resounding success in a display of strong friendship among the masses.

~ On the occasion of the 10th Anniversary of India Center, Shinzo Abe, Prime Minister of Japan, launched 'Voice Of India' (www.voiceofindia.co.jp) a news and information portal and an initiative of India Center Foundation. Voice of India is aimed at being the preferred news and information gateway for Japanese about India.

~ In July ND Tiwari, Chief Miniter of Uttaranchal, visited Japan and on the initiative of India Center, met with Shinzo Abe, the Chief Cabinet Secretary. India center hosted a banquet in his honor attended by policy makers and business leaders.

~ In June Babulal Gaur, Minister of Industry and Commerce in the Madhya Pradesh Government, visited Japan. India Center arranged meetings with leading Japanese policy makers and business leaders.

~ Over 100 Japanese SME business leaders visited India under the aegis of The Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO). At India Center’s request the Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh met with the entire delegation sending out an extremely positive message to the Japanese business community.

~ An informal guideline for the development of India’s Infrastructure was signed.

~ The 36 member delegation comprising of business leaders from infrastructure, tourism and aviation also met with Somnath Chatterjee, Speaker of the House, LK Advani, Leader of Opposition, and ND Tiwari, Chief Miniter of Uttaranchal.

~ In July India Center held the first of its kind, “Indo-Japan Global Partnership Forum” in India. the participants included, Makoto Koga, former secretary General of LDP and Toshihiro Nikai, former minister for Industry and Transport, LDP, Kapil Sibal, minister for Science and Technology, Praful Patel Minister of Civil Aviation, Vijay Kelkar, advisor to the Finance Minister, and Dr. Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission.

~ The role of Japan in helping the development of India’s Infrastructure was envisioned at this platform.

~ In June “Nidaan”, an Indian cinema that focuses on educating and creating awareness about AIDS, was shown at the Japanese Diet.

~ CEO40 Mentor Program - a Japanese study group of forty young corporate executives was addressed by Vibhav Kant Upadhyay, Chairman of India Center, and a trip to India was facilitated by India Center. Many of these young executives then decided to explore oppurtunities in India.

~ In November, Chihiro Kato the editor of Asahi Shimbun visited India to gain first-hand appreciation of India as an emerging economic power. The publication was creating a ten series special on India and met with a variety of people from the political, industrial and cultural worlds.

~ 50th Anniversary of Japan-India diplomatic relationship.

~ In November, India Center co-hosted an exchange meeting along with CII and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) in India attended by prominent delegates from the political and business world of Japan.

~ In October Yoshiro Mori, former Japanese Prime Minister, visited India as a special emissary of Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.

~ Indian Defense Minister George Fernandes visited Japan in June.

~ Naoto Kan, former leader of Opposition and member of parliament, Democratic party of Japan, visited Andaman & Nicobar Islands and various other places across India as part of the 50th Anniversary celebrations.

~ Through India Center’s initiative, Yukio Hatoyama, leader of Opposition, Democratic Party of Japan, visited the Assembly of Kashmir and the Indian Parliament in January, marking his protest and condemning the terrorist attacks in December 2001. He also met with Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

~ In April for the first time, India Center organised the screening of Indian cinema, “Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam” at the Diet commemorating the 50th anniversary of Japan-India relations among the presence of prominent policy makers and business leaders. The Prime Ministers of both countries appreciated this efforts in individual messages.

~ India Center presented Nehru jackets to both the Prime Ministers during this visit as a symbolic image of thier emerging partnership.

~ India Center contributed significantly to the contents of the Global Partnership initiative, which were to be discussed during the visit of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

~ In December, Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee visited Japan and had a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, Yoshiro Mori, former Prime Minister, and Yukio Hatoyama, the leader of Opposition, Democratic Party of Japan, to take forward the Global Partnership agreed in 2000.

~ In October former Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori, visited India as a special emissary to Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.

~ India Center organised a charity film festival in aid of Gujarat earthquake victims. Popular cinema “Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam” was screened and Indian actors Shah Rukh Khan and Juhi Chawla volunteered.

~ India’s Information Technology Minister Late Pramod Mahajan visited Japan In September.

~ Indian Defense Minister George Fernandes visited Japan in June.

~ Public opinion about what India can do for Japan was established.

~ A unique model of economic interdependence was announced in the field of Information technology, by India Center and Japan’s leading Human Resources Company, Pasona. Leading Japnese newspaper Asahi Shimbun, carried a prominent story on this initiative titled, “Indoji ni Tayocchao?” (Why don’t we rely on Indians?).

~ Yoshiro Mori becomes Prime Minister of Japan.

~ Indian Defense Minister George Fernandes visited Japan in January.

~ This marked the beginning of a new relationship between the two countries.

~ The Mission visited Hiroshima and interacted with several policy makers, opinion leaders and were also well received by then Prime Minister Late Keizo Obuchi. India Center conceived and organized this Mission to its success.

~ At the height of sanctions, India Center invited a “Goodwill Mission”, consisting of prominent policy-makers, businessmen and media personnel from India to visit Japan to discuss with their counterparts the importance of bilateral relations and India’s Nuclear stance.

~ Indian External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh visited Japan in November.

~ India Center continued it strive to CHANGE the perception of the Japanese community towards India.

~ At the behest of India Center, the Tokyo Fantastic Film Festival designated November 3 (Japan’s Culture Day) as “Indian Movie Day.” India Center presented “Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jaayenge” at this gathering. Leading Bollywood actress Kajol, was invited to the festival. This ignited the boom of Indian cinema in Japan resulting in increased awareness about India.

~ Japan participated as partner country in the International Expo organized by the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII).

~ Japanese Foreign Minister Yukihiko Ikeda visited India.

~ India Center believed that the key to stronger Indo-Japan friendship lay in effective mass communication between the people of both countries. India Center experimented with Indian cinema as tool of mass communication to reach out to the Japanese masses. Popular Indian cinema, “Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman”, the success story of a small town man, was screened accross Japan, and received immense positive response.