[EXCLUSIVE] Japan wants India to open aviation borders for its Japanese professionals
How can Japanese companies resume operations in India without its experts who are stuck in Japan due overseas travel restrictions imposed in India?
NEW DELHI: As Japanese companies in India get ready to resume operations with relaxed norms during lockdown 3.0, the Japanese government has asked Indian authorities to allow permission to operate flights from Japan to India to bring Japanese executives and engineers stuck there.
Hundreds of key Japanese professionals who are urgently required in India to assist their companies in India to resume operations are stuck in Japan and are awaiting the Indian government’s green nod for the same.
They got stuck in Japan as the Indian government had all of a suddenly announced to suspend visas and terminated all scheduled international flights on March 23 barring foreign nationals enter India to stem the spread of COVID-19 here.
All major Japanese conglomerates Maruti Suzuki, Honda, Daikin, Toshiba, NEC, Denso and others have received permission to start operations in India, and some of these companies in air-conditioning and information technology sector have already begun operations.
“Many Japanese companies in India need professionals from Japan but they are unable to enter India because of cross border travel restrictions. More than 200 Japanese professionals including senior management executives and engineers are stuck in Japan. Many of them are scheduled to come to India as part of assignment changes made effective from April 1,” said Kenji Sugino, Secretary-General, Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry in India (JCCII).
The Indian government should also Japanese professionals to enter India so that the companies here could take benefit of the relaxed norms for restarting production, said Sugno.
“We have specially operated Japan Airlines (JAL) and ANA flights on May 13 and another sometime in May only respectively to take Japanese nationals from India to Japan. The same flights can be utilized to bring Japanese stuck in Japan. Also, there are some Indians too stuck in Japan, and even they can use the same flights to return to India. It would not take more than 2-3 flights to bring Japanese and Indians to India,” said JCCII Secretary-General.
There are a couple of hundreds of Indian professionals, students, and trainees who are stranded in Japan and are facing hardships as many of them are running out of resources to sustain in one of the world’s most expensive cities like Tokyo.
According to highly placed sources, the Japanese embassy in New Delhi has taken up the matter with the Indian government, especially the union ministry of external affairs seeking permission to fly in Japanese professionals from Japan.
The Japanese government, as well as trade bodies in Japan too, has taken up the issue with the Indian embassy in Tokyo, the sources said.
Japan does not figure in the first two lists of countries where the Indian government has been bringing back Indians stuck in various countries across the world. As per the mandate of Vande Bharat Mission launched by the Indian government on May 7, about two lac Indians stuck in various countries would be flown into Indian in the next few months.
“And if Indian government allows bringing Japanese from Japan, it could very well use the opportunity to bring their stranded Indians too back to India without having to arrange for separate flights for them,” Kenji Sugino suggested.
Also read: Japan, South Korea missing from first list of countries for evacuation of Indians stranded abroad
