The visit by Japan's Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi to India is timely for India-Japan relations. This is not just another diplomatic engagement, but an indication of the increasing relevance of collaboration between two nations that are faced with many of the same economic and strategic problems.

The international environment has become very unpredictable as compared to before. There have been protectionist trade policies, political disputes, and disruptions in the global value chain that have adversely impacted the economies around the world. Energy importing countries such as India and Japan have found that the security challenges in West Asia and Strait of Hormuz pose new risks for energy importing from volatile areas.
The effect can be seen in both nations. While Japan continues to struggle with issues like inflation and shortage of raw materials used in industrial processes, India has been grappling with an increase in fuel prices, fertilizer prices, and other basic necessities. Depreciation in the value of the yen and the rupee has put additional strain on the nations.
Meanwhile, the strategic landscape in the Indo-Pacific region is also becoming more complex. Recently, India organized the Foreign Ministers' Meeting of the Quad, where members pledged to work toward an open, free, and inclusive Indo-Pacific region. Although the United States still holds the primary position as a security partner in the region, it is also clear that other nations like India, Japan, and Australia will have to assume more responsibilities in the region.
Current diplomacy bears witness to this trend as well. Japan has increased its defence collaboration with Australia, and Australia has increased its strategic engagement with India. This suggests that collaboration amongst democracies of the Indo-Pacific region is moving towards being more meaningful and practical, especially with regard to defence and technological matters.
The security policy of Japan has also seen tremendous changes over the years. In the years following the end of World War II, Japan was very restrictive regarding its military expansion and the export of defence equipment. The former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe spearheaded efforts to change the country’s security policy.
This trend has been continued by Prime Minister Takaichi as well. The government of Prime Minister Takaichi has liberalised the defence exports policy of Japan, such that the companies of Japan could cooperate with their trusted partners in the joint development and production of advanced defence systems.
A number of reasons may account for the above move. The missiles and nuclear programs of North Korea constitute a continued threat to the security of the region. Moreover, the increasing military power and dominance of China and its control over important trade routes have led Japan to look towards other options in terms of both security and economics. In addition, the future of US foreign policy is unpredictable.
For India, these developments hold considerable promise. Military ties between Delhi and Tokyo have steadily increased over the last decade by way of joint exercises, strategic dialogue, and technological cooperation. The natural progression would be for these two nations to enhance industrial cooperation.
There are already some promising signals being observed. India and Japan are collaborating in the manufacture of UNICORN masts for the Indian Navy, while the talks regarding the manufacture of stealth frigates of the Mogami class in India reflect the increasing trust that exists between the two nations. Collaboration may even be extended to other fields like propulsion systems, unmanned aerial vehicles (drones), aircraft engines, and defence technologies.
But the cooperation extends far beyond defence. Japan continues to be at the forefront of technological fields such as semiconductors, robotics, artificial intelligence, and precision manufacturing. The closer cooperation in these industries will help realise India's plans for developing manufacturing under the Atmanirbhar Bharat program, while the Japanese companies will find an alternative outlet for their investments and production.
In other words, economic cooperation must remain a cornerstone of the bilateral agenda. When the Indian PM visited Japan, both countries set lofty goals, which included bringing into India 10 trillion yen in investments from Japanese businesses and promoting the movement of skilled professionals between the two countries.
These goals would need to be pursued with persistent implementation efforts. Ease of business in India needs to be further improved through streamlining regulations and policy-making, thereby providing a conducive environment for investment. Japanese companies look for stability in the longer term and will need to boost confidence in order to turn promises into reality.
The visit of Prime Minister Takaichi to India takes place at a time when there is a fast-changing geopolitical landscape in Asia. With increasing geopolitical rivalry, India and Japan have the chance to forge a more stable and multipolar Indo-Pacific region. In the last decade, the relationship between the two countries has become more than diplomatic into a strategic partnership of democracy, economics and security.
Now, the question is one of translating promises into action. But if both nations leverage the positive energy generated during this trip, then the Modi-Takaichi summit may well turn out to be the starting point of an enhanced India-Japan partnership that would help them prosper, along with ensuring the stability of the Indo-Pacific region.