 "India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Japan's Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba shake hands during a joint press conference in Tokyo, Japan. Reuters")
Prime Minister Narendra Modi conducted an official working visit to Japan from August 29 to 30, 2025, at the request of his counterpart, Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru, to attend the 15th India–Japan Annual Summit.
On August 29, PM Modi received a ceremonial guard of honour at the Prime Minister’s Office (Kantei) before conducting delegation-level meetings with Prime Minister Ishiba. The two leaders discussed India and Japan’s long-standing alliance, which is based on civilisational links, shared democratic principles, and a common strategic view.
During the meeting, both leaders emphasised the need of furthering the Special Strategic and Global Partnership and reached an agreement on a comprehensive plan to strengthen cooperation in defence, security, economic partnership, and people-to-people relations.
Key accomplishments included the approval of three historic documents: a Joint Vision for the Next Decade, a Joint Declaration on Security Cooperation, and an Action Plan for Human Resource interchange and Cooperation, which will result in the interchange of nearly 500,000 persons over the next five years.
The leaders also established the India-Japan Economic Security Initiative, which focusses on building robust supply chains and collaborating in essential and developing technologies such as semiconductors, clean energy, and key minerals. They applauded the signing of agreements relating to sustainable energy, digital partnership, space, science and technology, and cultural exchanges.
In the digital sphere, the two prime ministers were pleased with the advancements made under the India-Japan Digital Partnership, which fosters cooperative efforts in cutting-edge technologies through business collaborations, startups, research and development, and the interchange of digital skills. The India-Japan Digital Partnership 2.0 was welcomed by them, as it will advance collaboration to the next phase of the digital revolution.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsThe two prime ministers also announced the establishment of a Japan-India AI Cooperation Initiative, which aims to support collaborative research projects, build platforms for industry-academia exchange, facilitate the development and operation of data centres in India, and strengthen bilateral and multilateral cooperation on artificial intelligence, including Large Language Models (LLMs).
PM Ishiba was invited by PM Modi to participate in the AI Impact Summit, which India will host from February 19–20, 2026.
Regarding security and defence, the two prime ministers promised to strengthen defence technology and equipment cooperation and praised the increasing momentum in bilateral military cooperation, which includes joint exercises by all three services. Concerned about tensions in the East and South China Seas, they also reiterated their commitment to an Indo-Pacific that is free, open, and governed by norms.
Japan pledged to mobilise 10 trillion yen in private investment in India, reaffirming its commitment to economic cooperation and building on its previous goal of 5 trillion yen. Along with reviewing ongoing projects, such as the Mumbai–Ahmedabad High Speed Rail, the two leaders reiterated their support for Japanese investment in supply chain diversification and industrial townships.
The two prime ministers addressed regional and global issues, such as the situation in Myanmar, North Korea’s missile program, terrorism, the Gaza dilemma, and the conflict in Ukraine. They reiterated their support for ASEAN centrality, the Quad, and urgent UN Security Council reform, including mutual support for each other’s bids for permanent membership.
Looking ahead, both sides recognised the significance of 2027, which marks the 75th anniversary of India-Japan diplomatic ties. PM Modi thanked PM Ishiba for his warmth and hospitality throughout the visit, and invited him to visit India later this year for the Quad Leaders’ Summit, which he accepted.
The visit reaffirmed the deep-rooted civilizational ties, vibrant people-to-people linkages, and shared democratic values that form the bedrock of the longstanding friendship between India and Japan.