India’s Tokyo drift: PMs open new chapter in ties
NEW DELHI: Japan PM Sanae Takaichi’s visit to India for the India-Japan summit heralded what her counterpart Narendra Modi described as a new chapter in their special strategic and global partnership, with both sides signing several agreements to boost cooperation in AI, energy security, mineral exploration and defence.The two also adopted a roadmap for economic security to boost supply chain resilience in strategic sectors like semiconductors and critical minerals, while agreeing to review the 15-year-old India-Japan CEPA to enhance bilateral trade. Building upon his remarks at G7 about the sanctity of mutual trust amid global turmoil, Modi said India-Japan ties exemplified a relationship based on unbreakable reciprocal trust.
India, Japan ink deal to boost naval stealth capabilities
In all, Japan PM Sanae Takaichi’s visit to India yielded 16 outcomes. Among the highlights was an announcement by Modi that India and Japan had signed their first co-development project for the Unified Complex Radio Antenna (UNICORN), which, the PM said, will open a new chapter in the defence technology partnership.“Now, we will together develop such defence technologies that will strengthen regional peace, maritime security, and rule-based order,” Modi said, referring to the UNICORN partnership that is expected to boost naval stealth capabilities. The announcement follows Japan’s relaxation under Takaichi of self-imposed restrictions on defence exports.During the joint press statement, Modi addressed Takaichi as his ‘choti behen’ (younger sister), and the Japanese PM reciprocated by saying both of them were on the same page and would look to strengthen this brother-sister relationship.On economic security, which dominated the summit agenda, the leaders reiterated in a joint statement their grave concerns over the use of “economic coercion and non-market policies and practices, including arbitrary export restrictions that may lead to supply chain disruptions, particularly in critical minerals and critical industrial sectors, and price manipulation”.Amid global concerns over China’s dominance of the critical minerals sector, Modi and Takaichi underscored the importance of diversified, resilient and reliable global supply chains, a fair competitive global environment, and the need to avoid reliance on any one country. Foreign secretary Vikram Misri later said the leaders also discussed the need to maintain strategic autonomy and resilience.The meeting also saw Modi and Takaichi agree to make the India-Japan CEPA more “forward-looking” to ramp up the modest bilateral trade volume of about $27.5 billion. Modi said the India-Japan investment partnership is steadily growing and that the more than 100 business agreements signed in the past year will bring $10 billion in Japanese investment to India.“Our goal is clear: to attract 10 trillion yen in investment from Japan to India and to double the number of Japanese companies in India over the next 10 years,” Modi said, adding that continuous reforms in India have improved the ease of doing business and Japanese companies can take advantage of this.Apart from joint declarations on economic security and energy resilience, the two sides also issued a joint statement on cooperation in AI.Reiterating the significance of a free, prosperous and rules-based Indo-Pacific, Modi said the technology partnership would serve as the strongest pillar of India-Japan collaboration.Modi said both sides had also prepared the India-Japan Next Generation Mobility Partnership Framework.
