SYLLABUS
GS-2: Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s interests.
Context:
Recently, the Prime Minister of India attended the 15th India-Japan Annual Summit in Tokyo on August 29-30, 2025.
Key Highlights of the Summit
• Joint Vision for the Next Decade: It lays out whole-of-nation lines of efforts to steer the partnership in eight pillars, such as economy, economic security, mobility, environment, technology and innovation, health, people-to-people ties and state-prefecture engagement.
• Joint Declaration on Security Cooperation: It elevates India’s defence and security ties to the next level, taking into account the contemporary geopolitical realities and security configurations in the region.
• Action Plan for Human Resource Interchange and Cooperation: It lays out a roadmap for talent mobility and deepening people-to-people ties through exchanges of more than 500,000 personnel in five years, including 50,000 skilled personnel and potential talents from India to Japan.
• India-Japan Economic Security Initiative: It focuses on building robust supply chains and collaborating in essential and developing technologies such as semiconductors, clean energy, and critical minerals.
- Japan pledged to mobilise 10 trillion Yen (approx. $68 billion) in private investment in India, reaffirming its commitment to economic cooperation and building on its previous goal of 5 trillion yen.
- They supported bilateral efforts to advance Japan Industrial Townships (JITs) and enhance cooperation in sectors like logistics, textiles, agriculture, and MSMEs under the India-Japan Industrial Competitiveness Partnership (IJICP).
• Japan-India AI Cooperation Initiative: It seeks to support joint research, foster industry-academia exchange, promote data centre development in India, and enhance bilateral and multilateral AI cooperation, including with LLMs.
• Additionally, Memorandum of Cooperation on the Joint Crediting Mechanism (JCM) and the Joint Declaration of Intent on Clean Hydrogen and Ammonia were signed.
• Multilateral and Regional Cooperation: They reiterated their support for the Quad, and urgent UN Security Council reform, including mutual support for each other’s bids for permanent membership.
Area of Cooperation Between India and Japan
• Bilateral Trade:
- India-Japan bilateral trade totalled US$22.85 billion during FY 2023-24. Exports from Japan to India were US$17.69 billion, and imports were US$5.15 billion.
- India ranks 18th in Japanʼs total trade with a 1.4% share, while Japan ranks 17th in Indiaʼs total trade with a 2.1% share.
• Defence cooperation and regional groupings:
- Regular joint exercises include Malabar, Milan, JIMEX, Dharma Guardian, and Coast Guard cooperation.
- The Quad includes India, Australia, Japan, and the US, working for global good and an open, free, and inclusive Indo-Pacific.
• People to People Participation:
- Opening of the Indian Consulate in Fukuoka that will deepen the links between the Kyushu region of Japan with India.
• Space Cooperation:
- 2025 is being celebrated as the India-Japan Year of Science, Technology and Innovation Exchange, marking the 40th anniversary of the first MoU on science and technology signed between the two countries.
- The LUPEX mission, jointly developed by ISRO and JAXA, aims to explore the moon’s south pole and study its hidden resources, including water ice.