Our Correspondent
Imphal, Dec. 13 (EMN): Manipur Governor Dr Najma Heptulla on Wednesday received a team of 10 member Buddhist delegation led by Bhikshu Gyomyo Nakamura, Japan at Raj Bhavan.
The Governor recounting her experiences on her visits to Asian countries interacted with the delegation team and discussed on the strong relations shared between Manipur and Japan.
Governor Dr Najma Heptulla said that Manipur had an emotional relationship with Japan from way back early years.
During the interaction she said that she had discussion on the Indo-Japanese relation and Manipur-Japanese relation with the Ambassador of Japan a year back during which she had discussed about the cleaning of the Loktak Lake, the largest fresh water lake in North-East India.
The Governor also informed the Buddhist delegation that she has given an invitation to the Japanese delegation taking part in the Business Summit during the Sangai Festival to invest in Manipur for building roads and to improve connectivity in the state.
Stating that Japan should build roads in Manipur for connectivity with the entire South East Asia, Governor Dr Heptulla said she is also pursuing the matter with the government to have good connectivity with the entire South East Asian countries as well.
She added that there is a close cultural relation between India and South East Asian Countries and that the India’s ethos is spread throughout the Asian countries which are evident in the religious practices of Buddhism, Jainism and Hinduism. She also reminded the Buddhist delegation that the Prime Minister spoke about the ancient relations shared with Japan at the recently concluded South East Asian Summit.
Dr Heptulla also said that Japan occupies a special place in the hearts of every citizen of Manipur. She said that the strong ties are not only based on Buddhism, but from the World War II.
She assured the delegates that there will be many more relationships with Japan in the near future. The governor also asked the delegation team to visit the museum where the artefacts of the World War are being displayed.
Buddhist delegate Bhikshu Gyomyo Nakamura said that the main purpose of their visit is to pray for souls of the war victims of the Japanese Army, the Indian Army and the civilians who died during the World War II particularly Japanese-Imphal- Ladakh war. Japanese people want to connect with the North East people of India and that he requested the governor to make the state government provide good connectivity so that the Japanese tourist can visit the state and can also promote Manipur tourism.
