Nobel Laureate Takaaki Kajita Praises India's Innovation Surge: 'Japan Should Learn From India'

(MENAFN- Live Mint) Japanese Nobel Laureate Takaaki Kajita on Monday praised India's consistent rise in the Global Innovation Index (GII) in the past decade and attributed the changing dynamics to the Modi government's focus and vision.

The Japanese Physicist and Nobel prize winner agreed with the view that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visionary leadership has led to enhanced focus and spending on research and development (R&D) in the past few years, news agency ANI said.

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Kajita also expressed support for the Modi government's emphasis on deepening Indo-Japan Collaboration in Science and Technology.

Takaaki Kajita was among the 20 renowned Japanese scientists who signed a resolution to extend support to the Indo-Japan joint partnership in the field of research and innovation.

Kajita, 66, is a Japanese physicist, known for neutrino experiments at the Kamioka Observatory – Kamiokande and its successor, Super-Kamiokande. In 2015, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics jointly with Canadian physicist Arthur B McDonald .

During the recent Japan visit, Prime Minister Modi had called for a joint collaboration between Indian talent and Japanese technology to create the next-generation tech revolution.

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India has seen rapid advancement in the Global Innovation Index (GII) in the past decade, and its ranking rose from 91st in 2014 to 38th in 2025, leaving the world surprised and taking note of its rising stature. In 2020, India's position in the GII index stood at 48th rank.

Japan should learn from India on the rapid advancement in the field of R&D.

“Japan should learn from India on the rapid advancement in the field of R&D,” said Kajita while participating in the International Conference on 'India – Japan Next Generation Science and Technology partnership: Academic and Research' hosted by India's premier educational institution Chandigarh University and Japan's top ranked university, University of Tokyo in the Japan's capital.

The Global Innovation Index (GII), introduced in 2007, was developed to provide comprehensive metrics for assessing the wide spectrum of innovations across economies.

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