India-Japan Annual Summit 2023

The summit is set against the backdrop of prior meetings at international events like the ASEAN Summit and the G7 Summit.

Historical Context and Strategic Partnership

• India-Japan relations have evolved significantly, characterized by: 
  • Global Partnership (2000)
  • Strategic and Global Partnership (2006)
  • Special Strategic and Global Partnership (2014)
• The partnerships are strengthened by shared values and strategic outlook, aligning India's Act East Policy and Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative (IPOI) with Japan's Free and Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP) policy.
• Japan is India's largest ODA donor and a key partner in the Quad and other plurilateral platforms.

Defence and Security Cooperation

• Key agreements include: 
  • Joint Declaration on Security Cooperation (2008)
  • Defence Cooperation and Exchanges MoU (2014)
  • Information Protection Agreement (2015)
  • Reciprocal Provision of Supplies and Services Agreement (2020)
• Regular military exercises such as Malabar, Milan, JIMEX, and Dharma Guardian enhance interoperability.
• There are plans to update the 2008 security cooperation framework to reflect the changing security environment.

Trade and Investment

• Bilateral trade reached $22.8 billion in 2023-24, with imports outweighing exports.
• Japan ranks as the fifth-largest source of FDI in India, with $43.2 billion cumulative investment as of December 2024.
• Emerging focus areas include digital cooperation, clean energy, and supply chain resilience.
• Plans to revise the investment target to 7-10 trillion yen by 2026 are underway.

Development and Infrastructure Cooperation

• Japan has been a major supporter of India's infrastructure projects since 1958.
• The Mumbai-Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail project exemplifies this cooperation, with substantial funding from Japan.

Multilateral and Regional Cooperation

• Collaboration in initiatives like the Quad focuses on ensuring a free and open Indo-Pacific.
• The Supply Chain Resilience Initiative (SCRI) aims to diversify and secure supply chains.

People-to-People, Culture, and Education

• 2023-24 was celebrated as the Year of Tourism Exchange between India and Japan.
• A growing number of academic partnerships exist, supported by platforms like Edu-Connect.
• The Indian diaspora in Japan, primarily IT professionals and engineers, is about 54,000 strong.
• The summit aims to enhance cultural and educational exchanges and address demographic challenges.