New Delhi [India], August 28 (ANI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi departed from New Delhi on Thursday for a two-day official go to to Japan, scheduled from August 29 to 30, to attend the fifteenth India-Japan Annual Summit. This marks his first standalone go to to Japan in almost seven years.
The go to comes on the invitation of Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba. During his go to, PM Modi will maintain the annual summit assembly together with his Japanese counterpart. Following the Japan go to, the Prime Minister will journey to China from August 31 to September 1 to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit in Tianjin.
Ahead of his departure, Prime Minister Modi issued an announcement highlighting the significance of the journey. He acknowledged that India and Japan will give attention to ‘subsequent section’ of thier Special Strategic and Global Partnership, which has seen regular progress over the previous 11 months.
‘We would endeavour to offer new wings to our collaboration, develop the scope and ambition of our financial and funding ties, and advance cooperation in new and rising applied sciences, together with AI and Semiconductors. The go to may even be a possibility to strengthen our civilizational bonds and cultural ties that join our peoples,’ PM wrote.
The Indian diaspora in Japan is brimming with pleasure as PM Modi is about to go to the nation.
During the summit, each Prime Ministers will conduct an in-depth evaluate of their ties, take stock of progress over the previous couple of years throughout a number of domains, and, as typical, trade views on regional and world problems with mutual curiosity.
The summit will present a possibility to launch new initiatives geared toward constructing better resilience within the India-Japan relationship and addressing rising world challenges. The program features a go to exterior Tokyo, which is able to once more be one thing to sit up for for the 2 leaders.
The go to additionally consists of interactions between PM Modi and a number of other different political leaders from Japan, in addition to with the Friends of India in Japan. PM Modi may even take part in a enterprise leaders’ discussion board with captains of the Japanese and Indian business. These interactions intention to deepen the necessary commerce, funding, and know-how relationship between the 2 nations.
This go to marks Modi’s first standalone journey to Japan in almost seven years and his first annual summit with Ishiba.
PM Modi final visited in 2018 for the Annual Summit. Since then, he has visited Japan, however these visits have been for multilateral engagements and different ceremonial occasions. This go to shall be totally devoted to the bilateral agenda between India and Japan. This can also be PM Modi’s eighth go to to Japan since he took workplace in 2014, and displays the very excessive precedence that this specific relationship has in our overseas relations.
Notably, the high-level engagements between India and Japan embrace a number of vital visits and conferences. In 2007, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe delivered the ‘Confluence of the Two Seas’ speech within the Indian Parliament, marking a major milestone within the bilateral relationship. Six years later, in 2013, Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko turned the primary Japanese imperial couple to go to India, strengthening cultural and diplomatic ties between the 2 nations.
In 2014, Prime Minister Abe was honoured because the Chief Guest of the Republic Day in India, additional solidifying bilateral relations. The relationship continued to develop, with President Ram Nath Kovind attending Emperor Naruhito’s enthronement ceremony in 2019, showcasing India’s respect for Japan’s imperial traditions.
In latest years, the engagement between the 2 nations has intensified. In March 2022, Japanese Prime Minister Kishida visited India and pledged JPY 5 trillion (roughly USD 42 billion) in funding. During this go to, the Clean Energy Partnership was launched, and the Industrial Competitiveness Partnership was superior. Additionally, an trade of notes was signed for seven yen mortgage tasks value over JPY 300 billion (USD 2.7 billion), demonstrating Japan’s dedication to supporting India’s improvement.
Prime Minister Kishida returned to India in March 2023, the place the fourth tranche of Official Development Assistance (ODA) value JPY 300 billion (roughly INR 18,000 crore or USD 2.2 billion) was signed for the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail Project. New initiatives in tourism and the surroundings had been additionally launched throughout this go to, additional increasing cooperation between the 2 nations.
In May 2023, Prime Minister Modi attended the G7 Summit in Hiroshima, Japan, the place he unveiled a statue of Mahatma Gandhi close to Peace Park, symbolising India’s dedication to peace and non-violence. Later, in September 2023, Prime Minister Kishida visited India once more for the G20 Summit, the place each leaders coordinated G7-G20 priorities and highlighted the considerations of the Global South.
The relationship continued to strengthen with the assembly of PM Modi and Japanese PM Kishida on the G7 Summit in Italy in June 2024, marking 10 years of the Special Strategic Partnership between India and Japan.
In October 2024, PM Modi met with Prime Minister Ishiba in Vientiane throughout the ASEAN Summit, additional reinforcing the bilateral ties. More just lately, in September 2025, the 2 leaders met throughout the Quad Summit in Wilmington, Delaware.
The goodwill between the 2 leaders was additionally evident when PM Ishiba known as PM Modi in April 2025 to specific condolences following the Pahalgam terror assault, demonstrating the robust private rapport between the leaders of the 2 nations.
Beyond summits, Foreign Ministers, Defence Ministers, and NSAs meet commonly, with the most recent 2+2 Ministerial (New Delhi, 2024) and Foreign Ministers’ Strategic Dialogue (2024).
Furthermore, each nations have a strong commerce and funding relationship, with bilateral commerce between the 2 nations reaching USD 22.8 billion in 2023-24. India’s imports from Japan outweigh its exports, with the principle gadgets exported to Japan together with chemical substances, autos, aluminium, and seafood. In distinction, imports from Japan primarily include equipment, metal, copper, and reactors.
In the primary 9 months of the 2024-25 fiscal yr, bilateral commerce totalled USD 21 billion, indicating stability in commerce relations. Japan is India’s fifth-largest supply of overseas direct funding (FDI), with a cumulative funding of USD 43.2 billion as much as December 2024. Annual FDI inflows from Japan have been robust, with USD 3.1 billion in 2023-24 and USD 1.36 billion in 2024-25 (April-December).
Japanese firms have persistently ranked India as a promising long-term funding vacation spot. There are roughly 1,400 Japanese firms with almost 5,000 institutions working in India, whereas over 100 Indian firms work in Japan. Profitability charges and growth plans for Japanese firms in India stay excessive.
The two nations are additionally exploring rising areas of cooperation, together with digital cooperation in semiconductors and startups, clear power, provide chain resilience, industrial competitiveness, and talent improvement.
Overall, the go to will consolidate our long-standing friendship. It will open contemporary avenues of cooperation and reaffirm our shared dedication to peace, prosperity, and stability, each for the 2 nations and in our shared Indo-Pacific area and past, in keeping with the MEA. (ANI)