Culinary diplomacy: Modi wants more Japanese restaurants in India


For a majority of Indians living in metropolitans, a meal at a restaurant consists of the usual Chinese, Italian and American fare with Japanese food presumably lying somewhere at the bottom of the list of preferred cuisines.

However, if Prime Minister Narendra Modi has his way, gastronomic delights from the land of the rising sun will enthrall the tastebuds of more and more Indians with the PM inviting Japanese business community to open more restaurants chains throughout the country.

“I request the Japanese business community to open maximum number of Japanese restaurant chains in India,” a grinning Modi said after delegation-level talks between India and Japan concluded at Mahatma Mandir in Gandhinagar.

“In Ahmedabad, on Saturdays and Sundays the restaurants are bursting at the seams with people and there’s no table available. Now imagine if Japanese restaurants too jump on the bandwagon, you can imagine the profits,” he added.

Highlighting that Japan is the third largest investor in India, Modi said in the coming years, the number of Japanese people residing in India will increase.

“Therefore, India Post and Japan Post will start a cool box service soon for Japanese living in India so that they can order their favourite food from Japan,” Modi said.