India Ambassador Eager to Expand India-Japan Cooperation

By Akiko Inoue / Japan News Staff Writer

6:00 JST, August 7, 2025

Indian Ambassador to Japan Sibi George expressed his eagerness to expand cooperation between India and Japan in the business, technology and security spheres in a recent interview with The Japan News in Tokyo.

“We have success stories [from the two countries’ partnership],” he said on July 31, adding that he would work to further strengthen ties.

Focus on regional Japan

As ambassador, George has put much effort into facilitating business partnerships, with a focus on regional areas and small and midsize companies in Japan. “Tokyo alone is not Japan,” he emphasized. “Japan is all over the country. Every prefecture matters.”

Since he took his position, George has visited all 47 prefectures, working to build business relations, such as for a green hydrogen project with Yamanashi Prefecture. He has also worked on sending skilled Indian workers to the IT sector in Hamamatsu. This spring, a new consulate-general opened in Fukuoka to facilitate India’s further engagement in the semiconductor hub that is being built up in Kumamoto Prefecture, namely by “sending more Indian engineers to work in the semiconductor sector, in the IT sector.”

Even though Japan’s regional areas are faced with shrinking and graying populations, George sees opportunity and potential in them, stressing that an increase in business relations with India could help spur regional revitalization in Japan.

When it comes to Japanese firms doing business in India, there are “1,500 success stories,” said George. “Let us make it 15,000.”

“That would help Japan to get back [to having the] second largest GDP in the world,” he suggested.

Regarding cooperation on defense, George underscored the importance of a free and open Indo-Pacific. “We are two democracies, and we need to work together for peace, security, stability and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific,” he said.

He explained that one important element of this is “maritime connectivity,” a reference to the sea-lane that connects Japan to the Middle East through India’s territorial waters.

“Maritime connectivity is perhaps the most important thing in our relationship,” said George, adding that the two countries needed to “work together to ensure that the sea-lanes are safe, secure, and help our prosperity.”

George indicated that efforts are also being made to further the partnership in the digital realm, including on AI, and in the space and semiconductor sectors.

With regard to AI, George urged both countries to work on “guidelines and principles” for the technology’s use. “It is important that countries like India and Japan work together … so that our people are safe and secure, and we are able to protect their mutually beneficial growth,” he said.