India and Japan are expected to announce plans to deepen cooperation in AI and semiconductors, while reinforcing defence and strategic ties, during Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's first visit to New Delhi beginning Wednesday.
Takaichi's 1-3 July visit for the 16th India-Japan Annual Summit comes amid major geopolitical and geo-economic shifts. As the US turns increasingly inward with punitive tariffs and its "America First" policies while showing less willingness to shoulder security responsibilities in Asia, and China expands its strategic and technological influence, India and Japan are seeking to deepen cooperation to navigate shared economic and security challenges.
The expected focus on AI and semiconductors also comes amid an intensifying global race led by the US and China to dominate artificial intelligence technologies, Beijing's use of rare earth exports as strategic leverage, and growing concerns over supply-chain resilience exposed by conflicts in West Asia.
The visit is expected to build on their Special Strategic and Global Partnership—elevated during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Japan in 2014.
According to a ministry of external affairs schedule, Takaichi will be accorded a ceremonial welcome at the Rashtrapati Bhavan on Thursday before she sits down for talks with Modi. She will also meet business representatives before departing on Friday.
India hosts around 1,400 Japanese companies, compared with about 30,000 in China.
India-Japan bilateral trade reached $27.5 billion in 2025-26, while Japanese investment in India totalled $3.2 billion between April and December 2025, according to Indian government data.
Several government-to-government and business agreements are expected to be signed on Thursday. Official pacts are likely to cover energy resilience, oil and gas, critical minerals, AI, mobility and migration, building on agreements reached during Modi's visit to Japan for the 15th India-Japan Summit last year. During that visit, Japan pledged to more than double its investment in India to over $61 billion over the next decade.
Key outcomes from the Modi-Takaichi meet are likely to include an India-Japan annual summit joint statement, a joint declaration on economic security cooperation and another on cooperation in AI.
The two leaders are also expected to reaffirm their commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific, where Japan views India as an indispensable partner. Tokyo sees cooperation with New Delhi as vital to preserving a rules-based international order amid signs that US is narrowing its strategic focus to the Pacific and the Western Hemisphere. It also comes as Washington looks to work out an understanding with main strategic and economic challenger China.
China, meanwhile, is looking to secure the pole position in Asia— something that neither India nor Japan is comfortable with. Relations between Tokyo and Beijing have remained strained since Takaichi took office in October.
In November, she drew criticism from China by saying that any Chinese use of force against Taiwan could threaten Japan's survival. Earlier this year, Japan unveiled a $58 billion defence budget, with emphasis on enhanced deterrence and modernization.
For India, the visit comes as ties with China gradually improve after the 2020 Galwan clash, though New Delhi remains cautious of Beijing's intentions. Relations with the US have also come under pressure in recent months over 50% tariffs, Washington's calls for India to halt Russian oil purchases and other issues. Against this backdrop, the Takaichi visit offers both countries an opportunity to further strengthen a partnership that has steadily expanded over the past decade.
In an opinion piece published in the Times of India on Wednesday, Takaichi said “strengthening of the strategic relationship between our countries” would be one of the key aims of her visit. “I wish to deepen cooperation in the field of security and strengthen our capacity to navigate the uncertain international landscape,” she said.
Takaichi also promised to fund infrastructure projects like regional roads and bridges, including the Dhubri-Phulbari Bridge in India’s northeast, as well as Matarbari Port in Bangladesh. She said these projects “will extend industrial value chains not only within Northeast India but also across India and onward to ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) and beyond. Our valued friends like Nepal and Bhutan will benefit as well.”
Japan is one of the few investors invited by India to participate in its development efforts in the strategically sensitive northeast, bordering Nepal, China, Bangladesh and Mynamar. The region was once riddled by violent insurgencies but is now seen as on the road to development.
Reuters and Bloomberg contributed to this report
Elizabeth Roche is associate professor, O.P. Jindal Global University.