India and Japan deepen economic security ties at New Delhi summit
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Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi held her first summit with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on July 2, during a three-day visit that both governments framed as the next step in a long-running partnership. According to Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Prime Minister's Office (Kantei), the talks built directly on the "India-Japan Joint Vision for the Next Decade," unveiled during Modi's August 2025 visit to Japan, and reaffirmed the countries' status as "Special Strategic and Global Partners." India's Press Information Bureau (PIB) struck a similar note, with Modi telling the India-Japan Business Forum that the relationship now rests on "strategic synergy, mutual confidence and clarity" between the two governments. Economic security moves to the center Both sides described economic security as the defining theme of the visit. Tokyo said the summit would produce a joint roadmap covering roughly five priority areas — semiconductors, critical minerals, information technology, clean energy, and pharmaceuticals — aimed at building supply chains that are less exposed to disruption. New Delhi's framing, delivered through Modi's public remarks, was consistent: he said the two countries were combining "Japan's precision technology and India's market potential" to create resilient supply chains, extending the cooperation first outlined in the two governments' 2025 economic security framework. Officials on the Indian side were careful to describe the partnership as centered on economics rather than defense, even as the two sides also touched on maritime security cooperation tied to Tokyo's "Free and Open Indo-Pacific" concept and India's own Indo-Pacific outreach. Semiconductors and electronics anchor the agenda Semiconductors featured prominently in both governments' statements. Japanese officials pointed to the sector as a core pillar of the new economic security roadmap, citing China's tightening of export controls on rare earths and other critical inputs as a backdrop. Modi, in his Business Forum address, cast semiconductors alongside pharmaceuticals and critical minerals as sectors where Japanese technology and Indian manufacturing capacity could be paired to build more resilient regional supply chains. Neither side released detailed sector-specific figures, but the emphasis on electronics and chip-related cooperation echoed earlier bilateral fact sheets on economic security cooperation issued after the 2025 summit. Investment targets get renewed momentum Investment was a second major thread. Japan's existing pledge — about JPY10 trillion (approx. US$61.52 billion) in private-sector investment into India over 10 years, set out in the 2025 Joint Vision — was reaffirmed by both sides, with Japanese officials signaling an intent to build on it. Modi went further in his Business Forum remarks, calling on Japanese companies to "meet and surpass" the JPY10 trillion target and to double the number of Japanese firms operating in India over the same period; roughly 1,400 Japanese companies currently operate in the country, about half of them in manufacturing. Two-way trade stood at about US$27.5 billion in India's 2025-26 fiscal year, a figure officials on both sides said they wanted to expand. To support that goal, Modi announced a new "Japan Business Week" initiative, run out of his own office, intended to give senior Indian officials more direct engagement with Japanese businesses on ease-of-doing-business issues. Innovation opens a new chapter Both governments also pointed to innovation and artificial intelligence as an emerging pillar of the relationship, separate from but linked to the economic security agenda. Modi described a vision in which the startup ecosystems of both countries drive joint advances in artificial intelligence, quantum technology, and biotechnology, while Japanese officials referred to plans for a dedicated joint statement on AI cooperation, expected to sit alongside the broader economic security declaration. Officials from both sides framed this as an extension of an existing human-resource exchange framework agreed in 2025, aimed at the mobility of skilled workers and researchers between the two countries. Source: Compiled by DIGITIMES, July 2026 Article edited by Jack Wu
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