India’s relations with East Asia will be in focus as Prime Minister Narendra Modi travels to Japan and China, combining a summit in Tokyo with Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on August 29-30, with participation in the SCO Heads of State Council meeting in Tianjin from August 31 to September 1. These visits come at atime of geopolitical and geoeconomic flux caused primarily by actions emanating from Washington DC which have affected all countries of the region in varying degrees. The Japan summit will be a continuum of a special relationship instituted by PMs AB Vajpayee and Yoshiro Mori in 2000. This relationship has grown in intensity and scope, making both countries with shared values, economic complementarities and coinciding strategic outlooks to view each other as indispensable partners for their economic security, high-tech collaboration and the stability of the Indo- Pacific region.
India and Japan instituted the annual PM-level summits almost two decades ago and this is to be the 15th summit meeting — the first with PM Ishiba at the helm — which will provide the opportunity to take stock of bilateral relations, share perspectives on regional and international affairs, including the Quad, and reboot the close relationship factoring in contemporary realities. Therein lies the importance of the India-Japan summit which sits at the apex of a multilayered architecture of official engagements and drives the Special Global and Strategic Partnership between the two countries.
As per foreign secretary Vikram Misri’s briefing of August 26, this summit will see the launch of new initiatives, especially in defence and security cooperation, trade and investment, technology and innovation, infrastructure and mobility, and enhancing people to people contacts.
The India-Japan defence and security relationship has grown from almost negligible exchanges before 2008 to a full calendar of events, including annual exercises across all wings of the military. Defence and foreign ministers meet now in the 2+2 format, and there have been many agreements in recent years, including on Defence Equipment and Technology Cooperation of 2015 and on logistics sharing called the Reciprocal Provision of Supplies and Services of 2020. Both these agreements are seeing realisation of objectives such as the decision to co-develop naval radar UNICORN masts for the Indian Navy.
At the forthcoming summit, the Joint Declaration on Security Cooperation is to be revised with inclusions to address new security challenges since its signing in 2008. These include references to economic security, cooperation in strengthening supply chains in critical minerals, joint development of defence technologies and collaboration in areas such as cyber security, AI and semiconductors.
As at all India-Japan summits, economic relations, in particular access to markets and Japanese investments in India, will be high on the agenda as captains of Indian and Japanese industry interact at a Business Leaders’ Forum. There is anticipation, as in the 2014 and 2022 summits, of the possibility of another announcement, this time of a Yen 10-trillion private and public investment and financing target to be made by PM Ishiba, as per Tokyo press reports. This augurs well for investments from Japan as the past targets were apparently achieved with ease.
Abellwether of the economic relationship, which also covers Japanese ODA-funded mega infrastructure and transport projects across India, is the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Rail, which, though behind schedule, is reported to be progressing with the Gujarat section to be completed by 2027 and the full corridor by 2029. The schedule, local manufacturing content, and training of Indian engineers will most likely be on the agenda even as PM Modi travels to Sendai in northeast Japan on a Shinkansen train during his visit. In Sendai, he is scheduled to visit a Japanese chip-making equipment factory. Semiconductors are high on the list of cooperation between the two countries, who have initiated a Semiconductor Policy Dialogue in 2023, and plan to cooperate in related areas of equipment, packaging, joint design hubs and workforce programmes.
There is likely to be focus on enhancing people-people links to cover the demand for IT professionals and other skilled Indians in Japan, deepening of S&T exchanges as 2025-2026 is ‘Year of Science, Technology and Innovation Exchanges’, and cooperation on the Lunar Polar Exploration Mission. The summit is expected to be about significant announcements and tightening of bolts to make India-Japan relationship live up to its expectations.
(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this column are that of the writer. The facts and opinions expressed here do not reflect the views of www.economictimes.com)
India and Japan instituted the annual PM-level summits almost two decades ago and this is to be the 15th summit meeting — the first with PM Ishiba at the helm — which will provide the opportunity to take stock of bilateral relations, share perspectives on regional and international affairs, including the Quad, and reboot the close relationship factoring in contemporary realities. Therein lies the importance of the India-Japan summit which sits at the apex of a multilayered architecture of official engagements and drives the Special Global and Strategic Partnership between the two countries.
As per foreign secretary Vikram Misri’s briefing of August 26, this summit will see the launch of new initiatives, especially in defence and security cooperation, trade and investment, technology and innovation, infrastructure and mobility, and enhancing people to people contacts.
The India-Japan defence and security relationship has grown from almost negligible exchanges before 2008 to a full calendar of events, including annual exercises across all wings of the military. Defence and foreign ministers meet now in the 2+2 format, and there have been many agreements in recent years, including on Defence Equipment and Technology Cooperation of 2015 and on logistics sharing called the Reciprocal Provision of Supplies and Services of 2020. Both these agreements are seeing realisation of objectives such as the decision to co-develop naval radar UNICORN masts for the Indian Navy.
At the forthcoming summit, the Joint Declaration on Security Cooperation is to be revised with inclusions to address new security challenges since its signing in 2008. These include references to economic security, cooperation in strengthening supply chains in critical minerals, joint development of defence technologies and collaboration in areas such as cyber security, AI and semiconductors.
As at all India-Japan summits, economic relations, in particular access to markets and Japanese investments in India, will be high on the agenda as captains of Indian and Japanese industry interact at a Business Leaders’ Forum. There is anticipation, as in the 2014 and 2022 summits, of the possibility of another announcement, this time of a Yen 10-trillion private and public investment and financing target to be made by PM Ishiba, as per Tokyo press reports. This augurs well for investments from Japan as the past targets were apparently achieved with ease.
Abellwether of the economic relationship, which also covers Japanese ODA-funded mega infrastructure and transport projects across India, is the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Rail, which, though behind schedule, is reported to be progressing with the Gujarat section to be completed by 2027 and the full corridor by 2029. The schedule, local manufacturing content, and training of Indian engineers will most likely be on the agenda even as PM Modi travels to Sendai in northeast Japan on a Shinkansen train during his visit. In Sendai, he is scheduled to visit a Japanese chip-making equipment factory. Semiconductors are high on the list of cooperation between the two countries, who have initiated a Semiconductor Policy Dialogue in 2023, and plan to cooperate in related areas of equipment, packaging, joint design hubs and workforce programmes.
There is likely to be focus on enhancing people-people links to cover the demand for IT professionals and other skilled Indians in Japan, deepening of S&T exchanges as 2025-2026 is ‘Year of Science, Technology and Innovation Exchanges’, and cooperation on the Lunar Polar Exploration Mission. The summit is expected to be about significant announcements and tightening of bolts to make India-Japan relationship live up to its expectations.
(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this column are that of the writer. The facts and opinions expressed here do not reflect the views of www.economictimes.com)
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