PM Narendra Modi heads to Tokyo tonight for his first visit to Japan in 7 years. What's on the agenda?

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will tonight embark on a two-day official visit to Japan beginning 29 August.

PM Narendra Modi is scheduled to leave for Tokyo from New Delhi around midnight on 28 August and arrive in Japan on 29 and 30 August for the 15th India-Japan Annual Summit with Japanese PM Shigeru Ishiba.

"This will be PM Modi's first annual summit with his Japanese counterpart, and is first standalone visit to Japan in nearly seven years. He last visited for the annual summit in 2018," Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri told reporters in New Delhi ahead of Narendra Modi’s two-day visit.

Misri added that the visit will be fully dedicated to the bilateral agenda between the two countries. This will be PM Narendra Modi's eighth visit to Japan since he took office in 2014.

"The annual summit between India and Japan represents the highest level dialogue mechanism that exists between the two countries and it drives the agenda of the India-Japan special strategic and global partnership," the foreign secretary added.

PM Narendra Modi last met PM Ishiba in June 2025 in Kananaskis, Canada, on the sidelines of the G7 Summit. "India and Japan are two countries that share values, trust and strategic outlook on several issues. They are Asia's two leading democracies and amongst the world's top five economies," Misri said

What’s on the agenda?

Misri said the India-Japan Annual Summit will give both prime ministers the opportunity to conduct an in-depth review of ties in various sectors, such as trade and investment, defence and security, and science and technology.

Both leaders are expected to assess progress made in the last few years across multiple domains and exchange views on important regional and global issues.

Misri said India-Japan bilateral relations have expanded steadily in scope and ambition over the last decade, and the visit would also be an opportunity to launch several new initiatives to build greater resilience in the relationship and respond to emerging opportunities and challenges.

PM Narendra Modi is also expected to participate in a business leaders' forum with Indian and Japanese industry members.

Quad and defence matters

PM Narendra Modi is scheduled to discuss matters related to the Quad group and enhancing security and peace in the Indo-Pacific region. Both India and Japan are members of the Quad along with the United States and Australia.

Misri said at the Tuesday press briefing that India attaches a high value to the Quad group, which is seen as a counterweight to China in the Indo-Pacific, despite strained ties with the United States, a fellow member.

President Donald Trump’s decision to impose additional tariffs of up to 50 per cent on imports from India, mainly in response to its purchases of Russian oil and resistance to opening up the agricultural sector, has undermined decades of diplomatic progress between India and the United States of America.

That, in turn, has raised doubts about India's plans to host a meeting of the Quad. India is scheduled to host the Quad summit later this year. The last such gathering was held in the US in September 2024.

Misri said India is still in talks with the US over the tariffs and is keen to continue expanding its cooperation with the Quad countries.

Narendra Modi and his counterpart Shigeru Ishiba could launch several new initiatives to respond to "emerging opportunities and challenges", Misri said, without giving specifics.

On 26 August, Narendra Modi attended an event in Gujarat state to mark the start of EV production by Japan's Suzuki Motor, which also announced an investment of about $8 billion in India.

Semiconductors, bullet trains

On Saturday, Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and Ishiba are also expected to take a tour of Tokyo Electron Factory, the famed Japanese electronics and semiconductor company headquartered in Akasaka.

The Japanese Foreign Ministry has announced that the two leaders will also travel to Miyagi Prefecture on 30 August to inspect the Tohoku Shinkansen plant in Sendai.

The leaders are expected to sign an agreement on the introduction of Japanese E-10 coaches, to be transferred to India in 2030 for the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Rail or the ‘Bullet Train’ project.

From Japan, Modi will fly to the Chinese port city of Tianjin for the summit of the regional security bloc Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, his first visit to China in more than seven years.

(With agency inputs)