Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi concluded his two-day visit to India. As the visit came at a time when both countries been subjected to Trump’s tariff measures, New Delhi and Japan focussed on economic security during the 18th Japan-India Foreign Ministers’ Strategic Dialogue.
India-Japan Ties
Japan has said while it is keen and actively focussing on infrastructure development of Northeast India, it continues to remain a “delicate and difficult” matter even as the region continues to witness ethnic struggles and insurgency. The matter was discussed during the 18th Japan-India Foreign Ministers’ Strategic Dialogue that was co-chaired by External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and his Japanese counterpart Toshimitsu Motegi.
Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi also met Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to Delhi yesterday evening. Japan is a key development partner in the infrastructure of Northeast India, providing substantial Official Development Assistance (ODA) through the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). This is a cornerstone of the India-Japan Act East Forum and focuses primarily on enhancing connectivity in the region to link it with Southeast Asia.
The matter was discussed during a two-hour long meeting between both the foreign ministers. According to a readout issued by the Foreign Ministry of Japan, both sides decided “to enhance cooperation in broader regions, including through the intellectual dialogue to improve connectivity of North Eastern India and surrounding region as well as the Japan-India Act East Forum, and also concurred to establish a framework of policy dialogue on South Asia.”
“Japan is a neural state… We are keen on infrastructure development of Northeast India. But this is a difficult and delicate issue. We are discussing this with India,” Toshihiro Kitamura, Spokesperson of the Japanese Foreign Ministry, told ABP Live on being asked about the recent spate of tensions in Manipur and also the issue of porous border with Myanmar, which is currently being ruled by the junta.
He also said that both sides have, therefore, decided to launch certain initiative which will seek to increase private sector participation in the projects underway in the Northeast.
The spokesperson also added that Tokyo plans to hold an ‘Act East Asia’ forum later this year that will lay out its plan on developing the northeast region. Some of the key projects in the Northeast in which Japan is involved include the Dhubri-Phulbari Bridge (India’s longest river bridge) connecting Assam and Meghalaya, and the Aizawl-Tuipang highway in Mizoram, which links to the Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project (KMTTP) in Myanmar.
Japan is India’s only foreign development partner with such a significant, large-scale presence in the Northeast. The India-Japan Act East Forum, established in 2017, serves as the primary mechanism for coordinating and accelerating these development projects.
Japan & India Vow Economic Security
India and Japan have decided to collaborate more closely on supply chains linkages for which both foreign ministers announced the launch of ‘Japan–India Private-Sector Dialogue on Economic Security’ within the first quarter of this year “in order to translate into concrete actions mainly in the five priority areas identified during Prime Minister Modi’s visit to Japan (semiconductors, critical minerals, information and communication technology, clean energy and pharmaceuticals),” said readout issued by the Japanese Foreign Ministry. This will be ndia and Japan have decided to collaborate more closely on supply chains linkages followed by the holding of the second Japan–India Dialogue on Economic Security at the earliest date, the statement said.
This comes at a time when both India and Japan have come under US President Donald Trump’s severe tariff actions. Both sides have decided to also convene at an early date the Joint Working Group (JWG) on Mineral Resources based on the Japan–India Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) in the Field of Mineral Resources.
Under the ‘Japan–India AI Cooperation Initiative (JAI)’ both ministers planned to establish the Japan–India AI Strategic Dialogue to promote concrete cooperation in the field of artificial intelligence. Minister Motegi also stated that Japan will participate ‘AI Impact Summit’ to be hosted by India in February this year. He also said that Japan would invite 500 highly skilled AI professionals from India by 2030 to promote joint research, which was welcomed by Minister Jaishankar.
