The relationship between India and Japan has always been special, and this relationship reached new heights with recent developments at the 15th India-Japan Annual Summit. From 29 August to 30 August 2025, Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Japan for this summit. This summit was especially significant as it was the first Annual Summit between Prime Minister Modi and Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba. According to Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, “this is the first standalone visit by Prime Minister Modi to Japan in nearly seven years” — his last standalone Annual Summit visit to Japan was in 2018. The timing of the Annual Summit was also strategic: immediately following the summit, Prime Minister Modi travelled to China to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit, which was held from 31 August to 1 September 2025 in Tianjin.
Significantly, a Quad Leaders’ meeting is expected later in the year; India is to host it in November 2025. The fact that the Annual Summit took place just before the SCO meeting is interpreted by many as signalling the high priority India places on its relationship with Japan, framing it as an “all-weather friend” in the Indo-Pacific. In recent times, India–China relations have shown signs of warming up, especially following the visit of Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi to India in August 2025.
The 15th India-Japan Annual Summit carries special meaning not only because of its timing but also because of the history of the bilateral partnership. A major reason for the remarkable growth of India-Japan relations over the past decade was the close and warm personal rapport between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the late Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Their friendship was widely seen as one of the driving forces behind the elevation of the partnership to the level of a Special Strategic and Global Partnership.
In 2020, Prime Minister Modi and Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga (who succeeded Abe after his resignation in September 2020) met for the first time during a Quad Leaders’ virtual summit. Although Prime Minister Suga had previously served as Chief Cabinet Secretary under Prime Minister Abe and was regarded as his close confidant, the relationship between Modi and Suga did not reach the same personal warmth and dynamism as that which characterised Modi’s bond with Abe. Nonetheless, institutional continuity ensured that bilateral ties remained strong, supported by shared strategic interests in the Indo-Pacific.
The decision to revise the 2008 Joint Declaration on Security Cooperation came as a direct response to China’s expanding presence in the Indian Ocean, East China Sea, and South China Sea. For both India and Japan, aligning defence strategies, sharing technology, and expanding joint military exercises has become a pressing need rather than a symbolic partnership
With a change in leadership in Japan, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida visited India in March 2022 for the 14th India-Japan Annual Summit. The summit focused on the theme of “Partnership for a Peaceful, Stable and Prosperous Post-COVID World”. Key priorities included building a stronger global health architecture, advancing clean energy and energy security, strengthening a rules-based multilateral trading system, and fostering a more competitive industrial partnership. These new areas of cooperation highlighted the forward-looking nature of the India-Japan relationship and its importance in shaping the post-pandemic international order.
The same year also marked the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between India and Japan (1952-2022), which was celebrated with great enthusiasm through a wide range of commemorative events in both countries.
Prime Minister Kishida made another visit to India in March 2023, during which he delivered his famous policy address titled “The Future of the Indo-Pacific: Japan’s New Plan for a “Free and Open Indo-Pacific”－ “Together with India, as an Indispensable Partner”. In this speech, he reinvigorated the concept of a Free and Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP) by outlining four pillars:
- Principles for peace and rules for prosperity
- Addressing challenges in security, including at sea and in the air
- Enhancing connectivity
- Ensuring resilience in the face of global challenges
These four pillars were designed to carry forward the legacy of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s landmark 2007 speech, “The Confluence of Two Seas”, delivered to the Indian Parliament. Kishida’s vision reaffirmed the centrality of India in Japan’s Indo-Pacific strategy and underscored the long-term convergence of interests between the two nations.
The rise of Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba to power was somewhat unexpected, as he had not been among the most popular choices within the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) establishment. Following his election as LDP president and subsequent elevation to the premiership in September 2024, the Japanese stock market experienced a sharp decline — an event that came to be described in domestic media as the “Ishiba shock.” The drop reflected investor uncertainty over his proposed economic policies, which diverged in some respects from the stability-focused “Abenomics” legacy.
For Prime Minister Ishiba, it was crucial to project himself as a globally credible and accepted leader, particularly given Japan’s frequent changes of leadership in the post-Abe years. Shinzo Abe had been Japan’s longest-serving prime minister in the post-war era (2006–07 and 2012–20), and his departure was followed by a rapid turnover of successors — Suga (2020–21), Kishida (2021–24), and then Ishiba. Against this backdrop, both Japan and the ruling LDP needed to demonstrate stable leadership and continuity to reassure international partners and domestic constituencies alike.
Key Developments
One of the key outcomes of the 15th India–Japan Annual Summit (August 2025) was the agreement to strengthen and revise the 2008 Joint Declaration on Security Cooperation. This step reflected the steady upward trajectory of bilateral security ties in recent years, supported by regular 2+2 Ministerial Meetings between the Foreign and Defence Ministers of both countries, and by the conduct of regular joint military exercises such as MILAN, Tarang Shakti, and Veer Guardian.
In the realm of defence technology and equipment cooperation, the partnership has produced notable achievements. A prominent example is the Unified Complex Radio Antenna (UNICORN) mast technology, which is being co-developed and co-produced by India and Japan — a demonstration of growing trust in sensitive defence domains.
The need to revise and upgrade the 2008 Joint Declaration has been driven primarily by the expansion of China’s activities in the Indian Ocean Region, the East China Sea, and the South China Sea. Since 2019, Japan’s Defence White Papers have consistently highlighted concerns over China’s assertive maritime posture, and India has also faced challenges in the Indian Ocean and at its land borders.
The formal decision to initiate the revision of the 2008 Declaration was taken during the India–Japan 2+2 Dialogue held on 20th August 2024 , where both sides underlined the importance of adapting their security partnership to emerging global and regional challenges. The outcome of the 15th Annual Summit has now given this process renewed momentum, ensuring that the bilateral framework is updated to meet contemporary security needs.
The revised Joint Declaration on Security Cooperation between India and Japan highlights the shared commitment of both countries to expand the complexity and sophistication of multilateral exercises, laying the groundwork for a new comprehensive dialogue between the Joint Staffs of the Self-Defence Forces and the Indian Armed Forces. A special emphasis has been placed on tri-services cooperation in areas such as humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR), along with collaboration in niche domains including counter-terrorism, cyber defence, and United Nations peacekeeping operations.
India’s extensive counter-terrorism experience and its role as one of the largest troop-contributing nations to UN peacekeeping provide valuable expertise that Japan can draw upon for training, joint exercises, and knowledge-sharing initiatives. While counter terrorism has not historically been a major area of bilateral cooperation, both sides now recognise the need to deepen engagement in this domain.
In recent years, Japan has consistently expressed diplomatic support for India’s efforts to combat terrorism. When India launched the ‘Operation Sindoor’ against terror camps supported by Pakistan, Japan supported India in its fight against terror.
The document also stresses the importance of cooperation in high-end defence technologies, through enhanced collaboration between India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Japan’s Acquisition, Technology & Logistics Agency (ATLA ). In addition, the India–Japan Defence Industry Forum is expected to provide a platform for greater opportunities in co-development, co-production, and defence business partnerships, opening avenues for both governments and private sector industries to work together.
These initiatives are pivotal for shaping the future trajectory of India–Japan defence cooperation, signalling a transition from primarily strategic dialogue to deeper operational, technological, and industrial collaboration.
Another key development highlighted at the 15th Annual Summit was the adoption of an Action Plan on Human Resource Exchange between the two countries. The initiative aims to promote talent mobility and strengthen people-to-people ties, with a target of facilitating the exchange of over 500,000 personnel within five years.
In the broader framework of economic and security relations, India and Japan also launched the Japan–India Economic Security Initiative. This initiative, first outlined in November 2024, focuses on strengthening cooperation in supply chain resilience, the development of critical and emerging technologies, telecommunications, pharmaceuticals, semiconductors, critical minerals, and clean energy. These areas were identified as key elements of strategic trade and technology collaboration.
The emphasis on these domains reflects a joint effort to prepare for future-oriented economic and security challenges while addressing shared interests. Both countries are mindful that China is rapidly consolidating its global lead in many of these sectors. Looking ahead, there is recognition in New Delhi and Tokyo that China could potentially leverage its dominant position and abundance of resources in these areas as a tool of strategic influence. By deepening bilateral cooperation, India and Japan seek to mitigate such vulnerabilities and build greater economic security.
A critical dimension of the India–Japan partnership lies in fostering stronger people-to-people connections. With Japan’s population rapidly ageing, there is an acute demand for a skilled workforce, particularly in sectors such as healthcare and software. Nursing has emerged as one of the most pressing areas of need, as many elderly citizens lack family support—some with children settled abroad in countries like the United States and Canada, while others belong to childless households. Given Japan’s extensive social security system, which includes public pensions, healthcare, and long-term care provisions, the shortage of caregivers is a pressing concern. India, with its young and skilled workforce, is well-positioned to address this gap, especially through the participation of trained nursing staff from states like Meghalaya and Tripura under the Technical Intern Training Programme (TITP). The year 2025 carries additional symbolic value as it is being commemorated as the ‘Japan–India Year of Science, Technology and Innovation Exchange,’ coinciding with the 40th anniversary of the first memorandum of understanding on science and technology between the two nations.
Apart from nursing, the summit also placed emphasis on advancing the domain of digital partnership. A key highlight was the proposed digital talent exchange programme, which would encompass research and development as well as corporate collaborations, thereby steering India and Japan towards a “Digital Partnership 2.0.” This upgraded framework would particularly focus on emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, including Large Language Models (LLMs), the establishment of data training centres, and structured exchanges between academia and industry. These measures are expected to provide strong support to the India-Japan Startup Support Initiative (JISSI), thereby creating new avenues for innovation and entrepreneurship. It was also underlined that many of these efforts are aimed at strengthening grassroots connections between the two nations, particularly through state-prefecture collaborations, which remain a cornerstone of bilateral engagement.
From a regional and global perspective, the summit underscored the centrality of the QUAD in promoting a rules-based international order and advancing multilateral frameworks aimed at building a resilient, free, and open Indo-Pacific. Particular attention was drawn to the situation in the East China Sea and the South China Sea, where both leaders strongly opposed unilateral attempts to alter the status quo, emphasising that maritime disputes must be addressed in accordance with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). India and Japan also reiterated their support for ASEAN’s Outlook on the Indo-Pacific, while highlighting their respective contributions through Japan’s Free and Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP) vision and India’s Indo-Pacific Oceans’ Initiative (IPOI).
Marking the 40th anniversary of their first science and technology agreement, 2025 has been declared the ‘Japan-India Year of Science, Technology and Innovation Exchange’. Alongside commemorations, the focus is firmly on practical collaboration — from healthcare and nursing staff to AI-driven digital partnerships — to strengthen grassroots connections between the two nations
The summit also highlighted recent developments such as Japan’s hosting of the 9th Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD9), which placed emphasis on enhancing connectivity and strengthening value chains between Africa and the Indian Ocean Region. India has likewise deepened its engagement with Africa, most prominently through its successful efforts to secure the African Union’s inclusion as a permanent member of the G20 during its presidency. On the global stage, both countries once again underlined the pressing need for reforms in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), advocating the expansion of both permanent and non-permanent seats to achieve a more representative and equitable global governance framework.
The 15th Annual Summit served as a milestone in reinforcing India–Japan cooperation across security and defence, economic resilience, and people-to-people linkages. Both sides reaffirmed their commitment to advancing the partnership further, underscoring the enduring trust and mutual respect that have shaped bilateral ties over decades. Looking ahead, the relationship is poised to witness deeper breakthroughs and broader collaborations, particularly as the two nations prepare to mark the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations in 2027—a celebration that will reflect not only their shared history but also their vision for a stronger, more interconnected future.
The author is an Assistant Professor at the Jindal School of International Affairs, O.P. Jindal Global University, where she also serves as Director of the Pankaj Kumar Jha Centre for Security Studies. A former Monbukagakusho Fellow at the University of Tokyo, her work focuses on India–Japan relations, foreign policy, and security strategy in the Indo-Pacific
