Japan has suffered a shortage of experts in Indian politics, economics, social studies, and security affairs, at a time when India has been enjoying increased international prominence. Against this backdrop, the Sasakawa Pan Asia Fund launched the SPF India Study Group in April 2006, consisting of six young scholars in the fields of politics, economics, and law. Professor Hideki Esho of Hosei University, a prominent scholar specialized in Indian economy, chaired the Group. Professor Yonosuke Hara of the National Graduate Institute of Policy Studies was invited to serve as advisor.
This year, the Group held nine study sessions. Each study session consisted of a presentation of the each member's research and a lecture by a speaker who was invited from either the academic community or business sector to provide the Group with insight into matters such as the current state of Indian domestic politics, law, economy, trade, investment, etc.
As another component of this program, the Group visited India twice during the fiscal year. The first visit was to Bangalore and Delhi for a week in August 2006. The Group visited various industrial sites and made presentations on their research at workshops at the Institute for Social and Economic Change in Bangalore as well as the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER) in Delhi. The second visit was to Delhi in February 2007 for a week. The Group had a second workshop at ICRIER. The visits to the External Affairs Ministry and Finance Ministry highlighted their visits to India as important occasions to receive direct briefings on the government's policies from top bureaucrats. Visits to industrial sites were also conducted to help the Group to update its knowledge on the current development of India's rapidly growing industrial sector.
The Group's research findings were compiled into six working papers for ciculation among universities and research institutes in Japan as well as in India.