India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the second-most populous country, the seventh-largest country by area, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the southwest, and the Bay of Bengal on the southeast, it shares land borders with Pakistan to the west; China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the north; and Bangladesh and Myanmar to the east. India is a secular federal republic governed in a democratic parliamentary system. It is a pluralistic, multilingual and multi-ethnic society. India has become a fast-growing major economy. Indian movies, music, and spiritual teachings play an increasing role in global culture.

Japan is an island country located off the eastern coast of Asia. It is bordered by the Sea of Japan to the west and the Pacific Ocean to the east. Part of the Pacific Ring of Fire, Japan encompasses an archipelago of 6,852 islands; five main islands (Hokkaido, Honshu, Kyushu, Shikoku, and Okinawa) comprise 96% of the country's total area of 377,975 square kilometers (145,937 sq mi). Japan is officially divided into 47 prefectures and traditionally into eight regions. About three-fourths of the country's terrain is covered with mountains, with much of the remainder made up by flat coastal plains. As a result, Japan is one of the most densely populated and urbanized countries in the world. The largest urban area is the Greater Tokyo Area centered on the capital city of Tokyo, which is the most populous metropolitan area in the world and home to more than 38 million people. Japan is the eleventh most populous country in the world with a population of 126.2 million, of which 97.8% are ethnically Japanese. Japan has a unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy, with the Emperor as the head of state and an elected legislature known as the National Diet.

Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country with a population exceeding 212.2 million. By area, it is the 33rd-largest country, spanning 881,913 square kilometres (340,509 square miles). Pakistan has a 1,046-kilometre (650-mile) coastline along the Arabian Sea and Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by India to the east, Afghanistan to the west, Iran to the southwest, and China to the northeast. It is separated narrowly from Tajikistan by Afghanistan's Wakhan Corridor in the northwest, and also shares a maritime border with Oman. The territory that now constitutes Pakistan was the site of several ancient cultures and intertwined with the history of the broader Indian subcontinent. Pakistan was created during the partition of India as a Muslim-majority region. It is an ethnically and linguistically diverse country, with similarly diverse geography and wildlife. Pakistan's political history since independence has been characterized by periods of military rule, political instability and conflicts with India. As of 2010 Pakistan is a parliamentary republic with periodic elections.