Prime minister Narendra Modi is known to greet world leaders with a signature bear hug, denoting warmth and friendship. Notably, during his recent meeting with US president Donald Trump on the sidelines of the G7 summit, the embrace was absent in favour of a firm, businesslike handshake. It doesn\u2019t take a body language specialist to decipher the chill that has crept into the relationship.<\/p>\n
Contrast this with the mood as Japanese prime minister Sanae Takaichi landed in India on her maiden visit and held the annual summit on Thursday with prime minister Modi.<\/p>\n
STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD<\/p>\n
After the meeting, Takaichi The pictures of a beaming Japanese PM accompanying her post told its own story. The warmth, sincerity and affability between the two leaders was evident. Later, during the joint presser with Modi, Takaichi said, \u201cYou called me a beautiful younger sister, Prime Minister Modi, but at the small meeting before the big meeting we confirmed that we are on the same page and develop this relationship as brother and sister.\u201d<\/p>\n Don\u2019t let the captivating smiles of Takaichi, her hand at Beneath the glowing smiles and familial gestures, the two principals laid down the brass tacks for an enduring security and economic partnership, indicating the steely resolve that is driving the tightening of ties amid mounting concerns on both sides owing to the rise of an aggressive China and a recalcitrant United States.<\/p>\n STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD<\/p>\n I\u2019ll let the Japanese PM\u2019s words do the heavy lifting.<\/p>\n \u201cJapan and India must leverage our respective strength to become stronger and more prosperous together. In the midst of international affairs in disarray, the establishment of such inter complementary cooperative relationship has become ever more important.\u201d The reference to the difficulties faced by middle powers at a time when the two superpowers are bent on carving up the world in a return to \u2018sphere of influence\u2019 geopolitics, couldn\u2019t be clearer.<\/p>\n For Takaichi, the situation is dire. Its treaty ally, the US, is too distracted to care. China has launched a multi-faceted pressure campaign against Japan, driving relations to their lowest point since 2010. Beijing\u2019s ire was triggered in November when Takaichi suggested that Tokyo may help defend Taiwan in the event of a Chinese invasion. It crossed what Beijing considers its \u2018reddest of red lines\u2019.<\/p>\n In retaliation against what it calls Japan\u2019s \u2018new militarism\u2019, which is an effort by the Takaichi government to shed Japan\u2019s traditional pacifism, increase defence spending and military cooperation with Indo-Pacific littorals such as Philippines, Beijing has deployed a mix of economic and military threats.<\/p>\n STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD<\/p>\n China is blacklisting several Japanese defence entities, banning their access to Chinese rare earth and critical minerals that are vital for manufacturing. Beijing is also detaining Japanese businessmen, banning Japanese seafood, and curtailing people-to-people exchanges. Militarily, China is conducting joint bomber patrols with Russia near Japanese airspace and increasing coast guard operations near Taiwan.<\/p>\n Amid this turbulence, Tokyo sees in New Delhi an able partner and a candidate for stronger defence coordination to counter the shift in regional balance of power. In Takaichi\u2019s words, \u201cBy drawing on each other\u2019s strengths, Japan and India can become stronger and more prosperous together\u2026 Amid a turbulent international environment, building such a mutually complementary partnership has become increasingly important.\u201d<\/p>\n Browsing through the official documents released after the summit \u2013 the \u201clist of outcomes\u201d (all 16 of them), the STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD<\/p>\n Both leaders recognize that regional peace and a rules-based order require more than diplomatic rhetoric; they require military capabilities and resilient economic ecosystems aligned with India\u2019s MAHASAGAR vision and Japan\u2019s upgraded Free and Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP) vision. The joint statements \u2013 such as the one on AI and on energy resilience \u2013 reflect the urgency and the changing pattern.<\/p>\n The relationship between the two countries has been expanding across trade, technology, and security for two decades. What this summit did is give that expansion a more deliberate institutional shape, anchored in the shared recognition that economic security and national security operate no longer in separate policy silos.<\/p>\n China is not named in any of the documents, but like the \u2018anaconda in the chandelier\u2019, it casts an all-pervasive shadow. Beijing is the largest trading partner of both India and Japan, which makes the relationship with China simultaneously a commercial necessity and a source of strategic discomfort.<\/p>\n STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD<\/p>\n China\u2019s dominance of rare earth and critical mineral supply chains prompted the explicit reference to \u201ceconomic coercion\u201d in the Economic Security Declaration joint statement.<\/p>\n \u201cBoth sides reiterate their grave concerns over the use of economic coercion and non-market policies and practices (NMPPs), including arbitrary export restrictions that may lead to supply chain disruptions, particularly on critical minerals, and critical industrial sectors, and price manipulation. They concur on the importance of maintaining a fair competitive global environment and establishing and safeguarding a resilient and reliable supply chain among like-minded partners to promote collective resilience.\u201d<\/p>\n Union commerce minister Piyush Goyal stated at a The \u2018Economic Security Cooperation\u2019 establishes a formal Japan-India Economic Security Dialogue and identifies five priority sectors: semiconductors, critical minerals, information and communication technology, clean energy and pharmaceuticals.<\/p>\n STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD<\/p>\n It calls for promoting \u201csafe, secure, and trustworthy AI by fostering diversified, resilient, and trusted supply chains\u201d among \u201clike-minded countries\u201d, pointing towards each other in practice.<\/p>\n There is genuine industrial dovetailing. Japan holds advanced chip-making equipment and process technology; India has a growing chip-design workforce and expanding fabrication capacity. Japan is already supporting India\u2019s semiconductor projects in Gujarat and Karnataka. Former Japanese ambassador Kenji Hiramatsu has described resilient Indo-Japanese supply chains as Japan and India understand the nature of the challenge facing them, and are moving swiftly. Takaichi said both leaders have decided on \u201cthree points at the centre of cooperation.\u201d<\/p>\n First, to deepen the strategic cooperation between Japan and India, there will be a laser focus on \u201cself-reliance and resilience to realize Free and Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP)\u201d, said Takaichi.<\/p>\n Modi, equally, placed it on record that \u201ca free, prosperous, and rules-based Indo-Pacific is our shared priority. As the region\u2019s largest democratic and market economies, today we have launched several important initiatives. Together, we will pave the way for peace, stability, and progress throughout the region\u201d.<\/p>\n STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD<\/p>\n This involves, as it emerged, holding a fourth 2+2 ministerial dialogue involving foreign and defence ministers of both countries within this year.<\/p>\n Takaichi said, \u201ctaking the opportunity of our visit, a destroyer of Japan s maritime self defence force and an India Navy vessel are planning to engage in joint exercise. We will enhance exercises in the Indian Ocean, promote naval maintenance, repair and overhaul cooperation, and strengthen equipment cooperation under the Make in India framework,\u201d as
\nposted on X<\/a> \u201cIn a relaxed atmosphere distinct from our formal talks, Prime Minister Modi and I candidly discussed not only Japan-India relations and the international situation, but also the cultures and cuisines of our two countries, as well as our personal sentiments toward each other\u2019s nations, allowing us to further deepen our mutual trust on a personal level. I sincerely express my heartfelt gratitude for India\u2019s proud, rich culinary culture and Prime Minister Modi\u2019s warm hospitality.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nceremonial beating of drums<\/a>,
\nplaying of santoor<\/a>, and the overall spirit of geniality fool you, however.<\/p>\n
\nAnnual Summit Joint Statement<\/a>, the landmark
\n\u2018Joint Declaration on Economic Security Cooperation\u2019<\/a> and a host of other statements and fact sheets, it is evident that this summit has fundamentally reimagined bilateral ties, transforming them from a partnership of economic convenience into a quasi-alliance of strategic deterrence.<\/p>\n
\nparallel forum<\/a> this week that the semiconductor supply chain is \u201ctoo concentrated in China.\u201d The underlying tension, that both countries remain commercially intertwined with Beijing while working to reduce their vulnerability, is one that the declaration addresses through institutional mechanisms.<\/p>\n
\n\u201ca central focus of PM Takaichi\u2019s updated vision\u201d<\/a> for the Indo-Pacific.<\/p>\n
\nreported by ANI<\/a>.<\/p>\n