India and Japan have unveiled an ambitious Action Plan for Human Resource Exchange and Cooperation, setting a target of facilitating the two-way movement of more than 500,000 people over the next five years.
The announcement was made during the 2025 India-Japan Annual Summit on Friday, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart underlined the importance of fostering greater people-to-people contact to strengthen bilateral ties.
The initiative seeks to create a new wave of exchanges across education, industry, and research, while promoting cultural understanding and co-creation of values. Out of the overall target, 50,000 skilled personnel and potential talents from India are expected to move to Japan, helping address the country’s manpower needs in areas such as information technology, semiconductors, and advanced manufacturing.
The Action Plan aims to attract skilled Indian professionals to Japan, promote student and researcher exchanges, and strengthen grassroots-level connections. To this end, the two governments, along with industry and academic institutions, will expand opportunities for collaboration in education, skill development, and employment. The plan also envisages bridging perception gaps through job placement support, language training, and new internship programmes.
Special focus will be given to high-skilled personnel, with Japanese companies expected to actively engage Indian universities to recruit talent in cutting-edge fields such as artificial intelligence and semiconductors. A range of academic initiatives, including scholarships, joint research programmes, and internships, have also been announced to encourage student and researcher mobility.
The agreement further strengthens cooperation in skill development through programmes like the India-Japan Talent Bridge and the India-Nippon Programme for Applied Competency Training (INPACT), designed to produce a “Japan-ready” workforce. Japanese companies will also subsidize vocational and language training in India, while new test centres for Japanese language proficiency will be established across the country.
Highlighting cultural ties, the plan provides for Centres of Excellence in Yoga and Ayurveda across Japan, overseen by India’s Ministry of AYUSH, to promote traditional wellness practices and their application in areas such as geriatric care.
The two governments have also committed to improving awareness and support systems for personnel moving across borders. Initiatives will include job fairs, career counselling, on-arrival orientation programmes, and grievance redressal support through Indian Missions in Japan.
The Action Plan will be jointly monitored by India’s Ministry of External Affairs and Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, with annual consultations at the Joint Secretary and Director General level. The two sides will also leverage existing dialogues in education, science and technology, digital economy, and skills to ensure smooth implementation.