Beyond the Numbers: Making Sense of India–Japan’s Human Resource Exchange Ambition

By Siddharth Deshmukh

President, Indo-Japan Business Council

Indian and Japanese students, researchers, and professionals collaborating in a university and technology setting, symbolising India–Japan educational and professional exchange

The recent India–Japan Annual Summit produced an ambitious outcome: a target of 500,000 people participating in a two-way human resource exchange over the coming years. The number is striking, and it has naturally drawn attention. But numbers alone rarely tell the full story in a relationship as carefully built as that between India and Japan.

What matters more than the figure itself is what it signals — and how it is interpreted.

Japan and India are not new to ambitious declarations. Over the past decade, their partnership has steadily deepened across infrastructure, technology, education, and security. The human resource dimension now reflects a shared recognition of complementary strengths: India’s demographic depth and Japan’s technological sophistication, combined with an urgent need to build resilient, trusted ecosystems rather than transactional arrangements.

Still, it is worth pausing before reading the figure literally.

Today, the number of Indian nationals residing long-term in Japan remains modest, in the range of tens of thousands. Japanese professionals living and working in India are even fewer still. Against this backdrop, the 500,000 target should not be understood as a migration goal, nor as a sudden shift in social or immigration policy. Both governments have been careful to describe it as an exchange — encompassing students, researchers, technical trainees, professionals, and institutional collaboration — rather than permanent relocation.

Seen this way, the figure is better read as a directional signal than as a demographic promise.

From a Japanese perspective, this distinction is essential. Japan’s approach to foreign human resources has historically been cautious, incremental, and structured. Social cohesion, language, and workplace integration are treated not as secondary concerns, but as prerequisites. Any large-scale movement that overlooks these realities would be neither sustainable nor welcome.

From an Indian perspective, the challenge is different. The opportunity is real, but expectations must be managed. Exporting talent without corresponding systems for preparation, certification, and cultural readiness risks frustration on both sides. Equally, a one-way flow would weaken the spirit of partnership that underpins the relationship.

This is where the conversation must shift — from counting people to building capacity.

Human resource cooperation at this scale only works if it is anchored in quality, reciprocity, and institutional trust. That means focusing on specific sectors where complementarities already exist: digital infrastructure, advanced manufacturing, clean energy, healthcare, and urban technology. It also means investing in language training, professional standards, and workplace literacy long before individuals cross borders.

Crucially, it also implies movement in both directions. A credible exchange framework must encourage Japanese engineers, researchers, and SME leaders to spend time in India — not as visitors, but as collaborators and mentors embedded in local ecosystems. Without this balance, the concept of “exchange” risks becoming rhetorical.

For bilateral institutions, this is not an abstract concern. Over the years, many promising India–Japan business collaborations have struggled not because of technology or finance, but because expectations were misaligned and timelines misunderstood. Large numbers, announced without sufficient operational scaffolding, can unintentionally magnify these gaps.

The ambition expressed at the summit therefore presents both an opportunity and a responsibility.

If handled carefully, it can accelerate a new phase of cooperation — one that moves beyond projects and investments to shared capabilities. If handled loosely, it risks creating pressure on systems that are not yet designed to absorb it.

The choice lies not in accepting or rejecting the number, but in shaping what it represents in practice.

That means moving deliberately. Pilot programmes before scale. Sector-specific pathways rather than broad promises. Clear benchmarks for readiness and integration. And above all, sustained dialogue between government, industry, academia, and intermediary institutions that understand realities on both sides.

India and Japan have built their partnership on predictability and trust. That is precisely why this moment matters. The success of the human resource agenda will not be measured by whether a headline number is reached, but by whether the people who participate emerge better equipped — professionally, culturally, and institutionally — to strengthen the relationship over the long term.

In that sense, the most important outcome of the summit may not be the figure itself, but the space it creates for a more mature conversation on how India and Japan prepare for the next decade together.

About the Author

Siddharth Deshmukh is the President of the Indo-Japan Business Council (IJBC). He has been a catalyst for bilateral engagement, focusing on economic synergies and cultural exchanges. His leadership has solidified IJBC’s role as a pivotal platform for enhancing connectivity, trust, and cooperation between India and Japan. His re-election underscores his significant contributions to fostering collaboration. Disclaimer: The views expressed are the author’s personal reflections, shared as part of IJBC’s ongoing work to deepen understanding of the India–Japan partnership.