JAPAN and India have announced a series of agreements to deepen cooperation in defence, economic and maritime security following talks between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart, Sanae Takaichi.
Speaking after the meeting in New Delhi yesterday, Modi said that India and Japan would collaborate on naval radio antenna systems, and had also adopted a joint roadmap on economic security.
He said the leaders also agreed to strengthen cooperation in artificial intelligence, shipbuilding, biogas, semiconductors and critical technologies.
“India and Japan view economic security as a shared security interest,” he said.
Japan is among India’s largest foreign investors and has backed major infrastructure projects such as the Mumbai-Ahmedabad high-speed rail line.
About 1,400 Japanese companies operate in India, nearly half of them in manufacturing.
Two-way trade reached a total of US$27.5bil in India’s 2025-26 fiscal year, while Japanese investment totalled US$3.2bil between April and December 2025, according to Indian government data.
Takaichi was in New Delhi on a three-day visit for the 16th annual India-Japan summit.
Both countries are seeking to strengthen their partnership in the Indo-Pacific following Modi’s trip to Tokyo last year, when Japan pledged to more than double its investment in India to over US$61bil across the next decade.
India and Japan, along with the United States and Australia, are members of the Quad, a grouping that promotes cooperation on regional security, maritime issues and defence.
Takaichi said New Delhi and Tokyo shared a commitment to Japan’s initiative of free and open Indo-Pacific based on freedom of navigation and respect for international law.
“Expansion of maritime security cooperation is especially important for regional peace and stability,” she said. — AP
