The Tokyo Conference was a conference held between March 28 and 30, 1942 at

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

by South-East Asian Indian Nationalist groups including the

Indian Independence League The Indian Independence League (also known as IIL) was a political organisation operated from the 1920s to the 1940s to organise those living outside India into seeking the removal of British colonial rule over India. Founded by Indian national ...

, the

Indian National Council The Indian National Council was an organisation founded in December 1941 in Bangkok by Indian independence movement, Indian Nationalists residing in Thailand. The organisation was founded from the Thai-Bharat Cultural Lodge on 22 December 1941. Th ...

, and smaller local Indian associations and clubs. This conference led to the decision to establish an all-unifying Indian Independence League. The conference was held at the invitation of

Rash Behari Bose Rash Behari Bose (; 25 May 1886 – 21 January 1945) was an Indian revolutionary leader against the British Raj. He was one of the key organisers of the Ghadar Mutiny and founded the First Indian National Army during World War 2. The Indian N ...

who was instrumental in persuading the Japanese authorities to stand by the Indian nationalists and ultimately to support actively the Indian freedom struggle abroad. Bose was also elected the leader of the Indian movement in South-East Asia during this conference. However, the Tokyo conference failed to reach any definitive decisions due to the differences between various regional factions, and also because of differences both with Rash Behari especially given his long connection with

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

and the current position of Japan as the occupying power in South-east Asia, and also because many were wary of vested Japanese interests. The Tokyo conference however, did agree on the decision to meet again in

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estima ...

to establish an all-unifying IIL at a future date. Rash Behari arrived in Singapore in April with the returning Indian delegation.

References

Notes

*. *. *. *. *. * . Indian Independence League Indian independence movement 1940s in Tokyo 1942 in India 1942 in Japan Indian National Army 1942 conferences India in World War II {{India-hist-stub