India holds key to world peace and prosperity: Japanese ambassador

India holds the key to securing peace and prosperity for the entire world, Ambassador of Japan to India Hiroshi Suzuki said here on Saturday.

He also said the "close synergy" between the two countries is more important than ever" in view of India holding the presidency of G20 and Japan being the chair of G7 for this year.

"India holds the key to securing peace and prosperity for the entire world. India this year holds the presidency of G20. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will preside over the G20 summit in September. (Japanese) Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is the chair of G7. So, the close synergy between India and Japan is more important than ever," Suzuki said.

Speaking after inaugurating the 11th Japan Festival at Ahmedabad Management Association (AMA), Suzuki stressed the need for a people-to-people exchange to strengthen ties between the two countries. India assumed the presidency of the G20 - a premier forum for international economic cooperation - on December 1, 2022. The G20 summit will be organised in New Delhi in September this year. Japan will host the annual G7 summit in May in Hiroshima.

The Japanese diplomat said the culture is the pillar that supports the "special partnership" between India and Japan which is global and strategic and encompasses wide-ranging areas of security, political and economic cooperation".

"All these will have to be supported by the people. That's why people-to-people exchange -- youth exchange -- is important. So I tell young students: you will be the bridge of the future, you will be the torchbearer of advancing special India-Japan partnership into the future," he said.

Suzuki also recalled his visit to Ahmedabad in 2017 with then Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe.  "Abe (now deceased) and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had a deep respect for each other, and they joined hands in creating this very special partnership," Suzuki added.

He also remembered the visit of Abe's wife Akie Abe to AMA in 2017 when she interacted with people at the Japan Centre of AMA and also gifted books.

"(Former) PM Abe was also deeply involved in selecting the best books that he and Mrs Abe wanted to donate to the people of Gujarat so that the friendship will be so much more deepened going into the future," Suzuki said.

The year 2023 also marks the golden jubilee of student exchange between Gujarat University and Otemon Gakuin University which started in 1972, he said. "Culture is a bridge between nations. Different nations have different languages, different ways of thinking, but people-to-people exchange, a cultural exchange can easily transcend all these impediments," Suzuki said, adding he was happy to see Gujarati people singing, dancing, and interacting with the Japanese at the AMA.

The Indo-Japan Friendship Association, Gujarat, welcomed Suzuki and other delegates.

The Japan festival, which will go on till February 2, has an exhibition on Japanese Manga artist Katsushika Hokusai, workshops on Zen-Kaizen, a musical fusion programme, an origami workshop, etc.