Vandana Gurnani, Secretary of Ministry of Labour & Employment

India and Japan on Monday got into discussions in Tokyo for a long-term cooperation in skilled workforce mobility and human resource development, with mobility of highly skilled professionals from Delhi steadily increasing yearly in the recent past.

Both sides are exploring ways to strengthen institutional partnerships and workforce exchange programmes.

At a joint seminar held in Tokyo on Monday, Vandana Gurnani, Secretary of Ministry of Labour & Employment, highlighted India’s growing role as a trusted global workforce partner and emphasised the government’s commitment towards building “transparent, ethical and scalable international labour mobility pathways.” The seminar was organised jointly by the Embassy of India in Japan and ASEAN ONE Co. Ltd., Japan.

In her keynote address, Gurnani also elaborated on India’s large-scale workforce preparation ecosystem, supported by higher education institutions, Industrial Training Institutes, apprenticeship systems, digital skilling platforms and career services, the Ministry of Labour and Employment said in a statement.

mobility framework

She also highlighted India’s international labour mobility framework, including the Ministry of External Affairs’ eMigrate platform, the National Career Service platform, Model Career Centres, and the broader skilling ecosystem involving the Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship, States and educational institutions, as per the Ministry.

The Secretary further stressed the need to strengthen readiness to the Japanese language , sector-specific skilling, testing infrastructure, skill mapping, occupational alignment, structured demand aggregation, ethical recruitment practices and institutional collaboration between India and Japan.

The event was attended by several prominent dignitaries from India and Japan, including Members of the House of Representatives of Japan such as Yamashita, former Minister of Justice; Ino, State Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry; Nakamura, State Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology; Tadashi Maeda, Chairman, Japan Bank for International Cooperation; Kengo Otsuka, Deputy Director-General, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Japan; and Nagma Mohamed Mallick, Ambassador of India to Japan.

Published on May 26, 2026