How India-Japan ties have evolved over the years

Before heading to China for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), Prime Minister Narendra Modi has embarked on a two-day visit to Japan starting today (August 29).

The trip comes amid tensions between India and America – two members of the Quad grouping alongside Australia and Japan. The grouping is viewed as a counterbalance to China in the Indo-Pacific.

Modi on his trip will meet Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba. The two leaders will discuss critical minerals and Japanese investment in India. Modi will then head to China’s Tianjin – his first visit to the country in seven years.

But what do we know about the India-Japan relationship. How has it evolved over the years?

Establishing, deepening ties

India and Japan established diplomatic relations in the aftermath of World War II . The two countries concluded a peace treaty on 28 April 1952  This was one of the first peace agreements that Kyoto, which was still reeling in the aftermath of the wall, signed. India and Japan have had warm relations ever since.

The next decade witnessed several high-level visits from dignitaries of both nations. This included then Japanese Prime Minister Kishi Nobusuke visiting India in 1957 and a visit from Crown Prince Akihito and Crown Princess Michiko in 1960. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru – who had donated an Indian elephant to the Ueno Zoo in Tokyo in 1949 – and President Rajendra Prasad undertook trips to Japan in 1957 and 1958.

Prime Minister Hayato Ikeda came to India in 1961 and Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone visited in in 1984. Meanwhile, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi and Narasimha Rao all visited Japan.

Ties between the two countries were given the status of a ‘Global Partnership’ in 2000 during Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s tenure. This was then elevated to a ‘Strategic and Global Partnership’ in 2006 when Manmohan Singh was prime minister. Then, in 2014, the year Prime Minister Narendra Modi took office, this was further raised to a ‘Special Strategic and Global Partnership’. Modi, who had visited Japan as Chief Minister of Gujarat in 2012, undertook his first visit to Japan as prime minister in 2014.

In Japan, many credit former prime minister Shinzo Abe for developing the relationship. However before Abe took office in 2012, it was his predecessors Yukio Hatoyama, Naoto Kan, and Yoshihiko Noda who did much to further the relationship.

Defence 

Defence ties between the two countries have generally been on an upswing since Modi came to power. In 2015, India and Japan reached two critical agreements on Defence Equipment and Technology Cooperation and Security of Classified Military Information.

Modi in November 2016 made another official visit to Japan during which he met Abe.

In December 2017, India and Japan established the Act East Forum, which seeks to provide a venue for the two countries to cooperate under India’s Act East Policy and Japan’s goal of a ‘Free and Open Indo-Pacific’.

In October 2018, Modi made yet another visit. In the Japan-India Vision Statement issued during this trip, Modi and Abe vowed to achieve a “Free and Open Indo-Pacific”.

The two countries held their first 2+2 Ministerial Level Dialogue in 2019. I n 2020, India and Japan signed the Reciprocal Provisions of Supplies and Services between the Indian Armed Forces and the Self-Defense Forces of Japan (JSDF). This agreement was activated during MILAN 2022 in March 2022. It has since been used in all the exercises and visits by ships, aircraft and contingents.

India and Japan have had several meetings of the Joint Working Group on Defence Equipment and Technology Cooperation (JWG-DETC). The two countries amended the “Three Principles for Transfer of Equipment and Technology” in December 2023. India’s Armed Forces have held have regular Staff Talks with JSDF. That same year, the two countries held their first ever Joint Services Staff Talks in Tokyo. Japan has also become a permanent participant in the Malabar naval exercises.

Business and trade

The business relationship began with Panasonic setting up its manufacturing plant in India in 1972. Then, Suzuki and Denso did so in the 1980s. The importance of the Suzuki Motor Corporation doing so cannot be overstated – bringing to India a professional management and a fresh way of doing things., In India, it was the 1990 economic reforms that gave fresh impetus to the partnership.

There are 1,400 Japanese companies registered in India — around half of them manufacturing, as per the Embassy of Japan in India and the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO). These firms have around 5,000 establishments across the country. India has over 100 companies in Japan.

In February 2011, India and Japan signed the India-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA). The deal, one of the most extensive India has ever signed, covered services, movement of people, investments, intellectual property rights, custom procedures and other trade issues. It aimed to abolish tariffs on more than 94 per cent of items traded between the two countries. Though it has not been formally renewed both countries continue to better implement it and address trade challenges.

India’s total trade with Japan in FY24-25 is $21 billion. India exported goods worth $5.1 billion and imported goods worth 15.9 billion. Bilateral trade between the two countries stood at $22.85 billion in FY 2023-2024. India imported $17.69 billion of goods from Japan in the previous financial year and imported goods worth $5.15 billion. India is Japan’s 18th biggest trading partner with a 1.4 per cent share while, Japan is India’s 17th largest trading partner with a 2.1 per cent share.

India’s primary exports to Japan have been petroleum products, chemicals, elements, compounds, non-metallic mineral ware, fish and fish preparations, metalliferous ores and scrap, clothing and accessories, iron and steel products, textile yarn, fabrics and machinery.  India’s primary imports from Japan are machinery, transport equipment, iron and steel, electronic goods, organic chemicals, machine tools.

Japan is the India’s fifth largest foreign investor.  Japan has invested $43.2 billion in India from April 2000 till December 2024. In recent years, the FDI has been –  $1.79 billion in 2022-2023, $3.1 billion in 2023-2024 and $1.35 billion in 2024-2025.

Japan has invested in India’s automobile, electrical equipment, telecommunications, chemical, insurance and pharmaceutical sectors.

Infrastructure, science and technology

Japan’s economic involvement in India began with the Official Development Assistance (ODA). For decades, New Delhi was the largest recipient of ODA loans. However, much has changed since then.

Japan has been investing in India via the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). This includes $15 billion in the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail project, the Delhi–Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC), the Delhi metro  and investments in India’s Smart Cities Mission. It has vowed to invest $68 billion in India over the next decade.

India and Japan have been examining the prospects of jointly investing in semiconductors, artificial intelligence and 5G. The two countries signed the “India–Japan Semiconductor Supply Chain Partnership” in 2023.

Culture 

The two countries have civilisational ties that span centuries.

Cultural exchanges between India and Japan are set to go back as early as the 6th century. It was through India that Japan was introduced to Buddhism. In 752 AD, the monk Bodhisena consecrated the statue of the Great Buddha at Todaiji Temple in Nara.

In modern times, Swami Vivekananda, Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore, JRD Tata, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose and Judge Radha Binod Pal have all had associations with Japan. The Japanese people have never forgotten how Justice Pal dissented at the War Crimes Tribunal set up in the aftermath of World War II.

The Japan-India Association, established in 1903, remains the oldest such body in Japan. The two countries and the cultural agreement in 1957. Modi and Abe had declared the year 2017 – the 60th anniversary of the agreement – as the ‘Year of Japan-India Friendly Relations’.

Other examples of the cultural exchange are Japan’s contributions to the restoration of Nalanda University and the Buddhist circuits in India.

The Japan–India Student Conference, the annual Festival of India in Japan, and the Japan Foundation’s funding of Japanese language courses in Indian universities are all testament to the deepening cultural relationship.

India’s growing presence and tourism

India has a growing presence in Japan with over 40,000 nationals living there. Of these many are professionals who work in IT and engineering. The Nishikasai area in Tokyo is now known as a “mini-India” and  is home to three Indian schools. There are a few hundred students in Japan – most of them pursuing doctoral courses, 150 professors and 50 research visa holders.

Japan is growing increasingly popular as a destination for Indians.

Between January and May this year, 142,400 Indian travellers visited Japan, a 39.6 per cent increase compared to the same period in 2024 . In 2024, around 233,000 Indian tourists visited Japan – a 40 per cent increase from 2023 when 166,394 Indians travelled there. In April 2025, Japan recorded its highest-ever single-month arrival of Indian tourists, with 37,300 visitors during the famed cherry blossom season.

It remains to be seen what new heights the partnership between India and Japan will scale.

With inputs from agencies