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At Tokyo summit, India and Japan outline path forward for the coming decade

Japan and India agreed Friday to significantly ramp up cooperation in a number of areas, including trade, security and people exchanges, as the special strategic partners draw closer amid growing international concern over unilateral U.S. trade tariffs.
In a press announcement following a meeting with his Indian counterpart at the Prime Minister’s Office on Friday evening, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba presented a joint statement outlining a 10-year roadmap for bilateral cooperation.

Eight areas of collaboration were identified as priorities: economy, economic security, mobility, environment, technology and innovation, health, people to people ties and engagements between local governments.

“I believe it is in the interests of both nations to build a mutually beneficial relationship,” Ishiba said after his meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “This involves leveraging each other’s strengths, tackling the challenges we face together, and pooling our wisdom to jointly create solutions for the next generation’s problems — problems for which no one currently holds the answers.”

Recalling his 2003 visit to India, making him the first head of the then-Defense Agency to make an official visit to the country, and his visit to the Indian city of Varanasi in 2016, Ishiba referred to the two countries’ shared commitment to security in the Indo-Pacific region.

“As the international situation grows increasingly uncertain, Japan and India must join forces to ensure regional peace and stability,” Ishiba said.

Modi, who last visited Japan in 2023 for a Group of Seven leaders’ summit in Hiroshima, also stressed the upward trend in bilateral economic ties and underlined the significance of the partnership for global peace.

“Strong democracies are natural partners in shaping a better world,” he said. “Together, we carry a common dream of peace, progress and prosperity for our peoples and for the world.”

He noted India’s recent opening of a consulate in Fukuoka as a sign of rising momentum for bilateral ties.

Earlier in the day, at an economic forum gathering business representatives from the two countries, Modi sought to boost support for his flagship Make in India initiative, calling on industry leaders to deepen cooperation on five particular areas: manufacturing, tech and innovation, green energy, next-gen infrastructure, and skills development.

“Our partnership in the auto sector has been extremely successful. … We can together replicate the same magic in batteries, robotics, semiconductors, shipbuilding and nuclear energy as well,” the Indian leader said.

“Together, we can create a Japan-ready workforce,” he said. I request all of you, come make in India, make for the world.”

Japan is planning to double private-sector investment in India to ¥10 trillion ($68 billion) over the next decade while increasing human exchanges with India to 500,000 people over the coming five years, including 50,000 skilled personnel and potential talents from India to Japan.

The two sides also launched a new economic security cooperation initiative to determine how they can work together to diversify and secure supply chains in key areas such as semiconductors, critical minerals, information and communication technology, clean energy and pharmaceuticals.

A number of bilateral agreements were signed on Friday, including memoranda of cooperation on digital partnership, clean energy and economic security, as well as an implementation deal between the country’s space agencies on their future joint Lunar Polar Exploration Mission.

“India is the springboard to the Global South for Japanese businesses. Together, we will shape the Asian century for stability, growth and prosperity,” Modi said at the forum, while calling on Japanese companies to tap India’s large, skilled and young workforce.

Modi’s Japan trip comes as New Delhi deals with the fallout of the U.S. imposing 50% tariffs on goods from India. The levies, which took effect on Wednesday, include a 25% penalty for the South Asian country’s transactions with Russia, including the purchase of Russian oil and weapons, which Washington says are a key source of funds for Moscow’s war against Ukraine.

The tariffs have raised alarm bells in New Delhi as they could impact exports and growth in the world’s fifth-largest economy, particularly as the U.S. is India’s largest trading partner.

“Modi’s visit provides an opportunity to enhance the resilience of both countries’ economies in light of the ongoing tariff disputes with the United States,” said Sebastian Maslow, an associate professor at the University of Tokyo.

For New Delhi, an expansion of Japanese trade and investment is crucial to advancing Modi’s Make in India economic agenda. At the same time, India’s growing economy is becoming increasingly important as a market for Japan as Tokyo seeks to diversify its trade and production networks amid ongoing frictions with Washington.

This is especially significant given India’s reserves of rare earth minerals, which Japan possesses the technical capacity to extract.

“Cooperation in this area fits into Japan’s broader strategy: not only to deliver high-quality infrastructure projects as part of its Free and Open Indo-Pacific vision but also to reinforce supply chain resilience in critical sectors,” Maslow added.

The “special strategic and global partners” also beefed up their 2008 Joint Declaration on Security Cooperation to reflect “contemporary priorities” and be responsive to the new security challenges.

The update to the declaration — which has acted as a roadmap for building up bilateral security ties — focuses on expanding cooperation in the fields of space, special operations, information-sharing and cybersecurity while also incorporating new fields such as economic security and defense-industrial cooperation.

Against this backdrop, Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri was recently quoted as saying that the new measures with Japan are meant to “build greater resilience in the relationship and respond to emerging opportunities and challenges.”

Ishiba and Modi were set to head to Sendai in Miyagi Prefecture on Saturday to visit the factory of Tokyo Electron, a major manufacturer of semiconductor production equipment.

Following his Japan visit, Modi will embark on his first trip to China in more than seven years to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Tianjin.

On Sunday and Monday, the Indian leader is set to hold talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin and other world leaders.

The China visit will also be significant as New Delhi and Beijing strive to ease tensions following deadly border clashes in 2020. The two neighbors are also planning to resume direct flights after five years and are discussing removing trade barriers as they seek to diversify their network of trade partners.

That said, experts warn that while Sino-Indian relations have shown signs of gradual improvement that could increase both countries’ leverage against Washington, it is probably too early to speak of a decisive geopolitical shift.

“The reality is that India and China continue to face unresolved bilateral tensions, as well as competition for leadership within the BRICS grouping and the broader Global South, making genuine strategic alignment unlikely in the near term,” Maslow said.

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