>>Summary

H. E. Mr. Manilal Tripathi, Ambassador of India to Japan, holds degrees in Political Science from Ravenshaw College in Cuttack, Orissa, and the University of Delhi. His distinguished diplomatic career has included appointments at the Indian Missions in Kathmandu, Moscow and Kabul, as Consul General at the Indian Mission in Karachi, Deputy Chief of the Indian Mission in Bonn, Ambassador to Romania, Deputy High Commissioner of the Indian Mission in Ottawa and High Commissioner of India to the Republic of Mauritius and the People’s Republic of Bangladesh. He took up his appointment as Ambassador to Japan in November 2003.

Roundtable Topic

The place that Asia will occupy in this post cold-war era of rapid globalisation has been drawing the attention of scholars and commentators across the globe. Asia is the largest continent in the world, both in terms of population as well as territory and the world’s fastest growing economy. Asia is poised to become the fulcrum of world economic activity, to contribute substantially to global security and, once again, to become the epicentre of human progress and development. In this context, India has been working vigorously to strengthen its relations with its Asian partners, including Japan, China and countries in the ASEAN region. Japan and India particularly have known each other for centuries. The two cultures have been mutually enriched by constant interaction, further reinforced in recent times by a shared commitment to democracy, human rights and freedoms and free market economy. This partnership will be an important factor in the emergence of a peaceful, equitable, democratic and multi-polar world order that is taking shape in this age of rapid globalization.