JGU hosts University of Tokyo delegation for India-Japan Higher Education Conclave

 
O.P. Jindal Global University (JGU)  welcomed in December a senior delegation from the University of Tokyo to participate in the India-Japan Higher Education Conclave 2025. The delegation was on a six-day  tour of three cities: Delhi, Ahmedabad, and Bengaluru.

The central theme of the India-Japan Higher Education Conclave — in which university leaders, government officials, teachers, and students talk about how education is changing around the world and how India and Japan can work together — was ‘Future of Global Education: India and Japan as Leaders of Knowledge and Innovation’.

Speaking at the inaugural session, Professor (Dr.) C. Raj Kumar, Founding Vice Chancellor of JGU, said, "This tour substantially advances JGU's Act East mandate and places higher education at the heart of the strategic partnership between India and Japan. Our exclusive partnership with the University of Tokyo will open up new platforms for research innovation, circulation of scholars and robust academic linkages that directly support bilateral priorities in education, technology and innovation. It also reflects a shared belief that universities must act as bridges between societies, enabling knowledge collaboration that is both globally oriented and locally responsive."

JGU is presently the only Indian university in an institutional partnership with the University of Tokyo. JGU has cultivated over 25+ university wide partnerships with leading Japanese institutions. These partnerships are designed to foster two-way academic mobility of students and faculty, catalyse joint research initiatives and strengthen the internationalisation of higher education ecosystems in both countries.

Professor (Dr.) Kaori Hayashi , Executive Vice President in charge of Global and Diversity Affairs at the University of Tokyo (UTokyo), articulated her institution’s vision for global engagement, with a particular emphasis on internationalisation, diversity and the reimagining of academic partnerships in a rapidly transforming geopolitical and technological landscape. She said, "I was very happy to visit the JGU campus again and see its exciting additions, including the new Museum of Constitution and the Moot Court. The vision and philosophy of the university, led by Vice Chancellor Prof. Raj Kumar, were clearly visible everywhere. In particular, I was impressed to see the university's commitment to diversity and inclusion.  I see great potential in the future collaborations between UTokyo and JGU, as well as other universities in Japan and India, the two critical Asian nations that value liberal democracy."

Professor (Dr.) Yujin Yaguchi, Vice President (Global Education) and Director of the Center for Global Education, said: "I am truly excited to see the educational collaboration taking place between JGU and UTokyo. We appreciate JGU's commitment to expand students' global outlook by sending them to Japan and we look forward to doing the same by offering more opportunities for ours to experience your exciting campus.  I am confident that the friendship formed among our students will contribute to an even stronger relationship between the two countries in the future."

Over the course of the India Tour, JGU and UTokyo leadership explored new and enhanced frameworks for academic cooperation. Key areas of engagement included two way student and faculty mobility across disciplines and levels of study; the development of joint and dual degree programmes as well as shorter term mobility schemes; the design of collaborative and comparative research projects that leverage complementary strengths in both systems; and the creation of innovative cross-institutional formats for teaching, learning and knowledge co-creation, including co-taught courses, joint seminars and hybrid learning initiatives.

Professor (Dr.) Akhil Bhardwaj, (Vice Dean, Office of International Affairs & Global Initiatives), JGU, added: "This India tour with UTokyo will lay strong foundations for long-term collaboration in faculty exchange, student mobility programmes and co-created initiatives that connect universities, industry and government stakeholders. By anchoring these efforts in a spirit of mutual respect and co-design, we aim to create pathways that benefit learners and researchers in both countries."

The delegation concluded its India tour on December 12,  2025. This visit culminated in a forward-looking roadmap for deepening JGU-UTokyo cooperation and advancing a shared vision of resilient, future-ready India-Japan higher education linkages that contribute meaningfully to global knowledge and innovation ecosystems.