India's Modi agrees with Japan's Ishiba to boost economic ties and
cooperation
[August 30, 2025] By
MARI YAMAGUCHI
TOKYO (AP) — The leaders of India and Japan agreed Friday to bolster
economic ties while also boosting cooperation in defense, energy and
other areas, as the two Asian powers face common challenges such as
China’s growing influence and U.S. tariffs.
Following their summit in Tokyo, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and
Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba agreed on a goal of boosting
Japanese private investment in India to about $6.8 billion a year over
the coming decade, up from about $2.7 billion a year in the 2010s.
They also agreed to increase exchanges of workers and students to half a
million people in the coming five years. The two governments hope
India’s young workforce can help address labor shortages caused by
Japan’s aging and declining population.
“We believe that Japanese technology and Indian talent are a winning
combination,” Modi told a news conference.
The two leaders released a “joint vision” of cooperation for the next
decade in areas such as security, defense, clean energy, technology and
space, and signed a total of 11 documents.
“As the economies and vibrant democracies of the world, partnership is
extremely important not just for our two countries but for global peace
and stability as well,” Modi said.
“We need to have to take advantage of each other’s strengths, to bring
solutions to our challenges and to help each other," Ishiba said.
In a separate joint statement, Ishiba and Modi reaffirmed their
commitment to cooperate as part of the Quad framework of regional
leaders, which also includes the U.S. and Australia and is intended to
counter China’s growing influence.
The two leaders said they are fully committed to a free, open, peaceful
and rules-based Indo-Pacific. Without specifically mentioning China,
they expressed “serious concern" over growing tensions in the East and
South China Seas and “strong opposition” to unilateral actions to change
the status quo.
On Sunday, Ishiba will escort Modi on a bullet train to Sendai in
northern Japan, for a tour of a factory that makes machinery for
producing semiconductors, before the Indian leader flies to China, the
next destination of his Asia tour.
[to top of second column] |
India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi, centre left, listens to
Japan's Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, centre right, during a
meeting in Tokyo, Friday Aug. 29, 2025. (Takashi Aoyama/Pool Photo
via AP)
 Ishiba needs to rack up diplomatic
successes to buoy public support because he is under pressure from
opponents within his own party to step down over parliamentary
elections results in July when his coalition lost its majority in
the upper house.
Friday’s India-Japan summit came days after Modi met China’s Foreign
Minister Wang Yi and hailed improving relations between the two
sides, following yearslong disputes over their Himalayan borders.
At a business forum earlier Friday, Modi urged Japanese companies to
invest in India, saying that reforms have created more a transparent
and predictable business environment. “In India’s development
journey, Japan has always been an important partner,” he told the
forum hosted by Japan’s powerful business lobby Keidanren.
Modi noted Suzuki Motor Corp.’s success in his country and said
Japan and India can replicate “the same magic” in batteries,
robotics, semiconductors, shipbuilding and nuclear energy and
contribute to the development of the so-called Global South nations
and Africa.
“Japan is a tech powerhouse and India is a talent powerhouse,” Modi
said, and that together the two countries can “lead this century’s
tech revolution,” in areas such as green energy, next generation
mobility and logistics infrastructure.
Ishiba said the two countries share universal values like democracy
and the rule of law and that “Japan’s advanced technology and
India’s outstanding talent, as well as its large market, are
complementing each other to a dramatic expansion of our economic
ties.”
He emphasized the importance of expanding their cooperation from the
Indian Ocean to Africa and Europe.
___
AP video journalist Ayaka McGill in Tokyo contributed.
All contents © copyright 2025 Associated Press. All rights reserved |
