India–Japan Relations: Strategic Convergence and Emerging Challenges

Context

The Japanese Defence Minister visited India in August 2026, highlighting the growing importance of bilateral defence and security cooperation. The V-Guardian exercise is being conducted in India for the first time in September 2026, with Japanese fighter aircraft participating for the first time.

Strategic and Security Cooperation

1. 2+2 Dialogue: The Foreign and Defence Ministers of both countries meet regularly to discuss security concerns and emerging geopolitical risks.
2. Quad: India and Japan are members of the Quad, providing a wider framework for strategic coordination.
3. Military Exercises: Dharma Guardian is conducted by their armies, while GMX Malabar involves their navies.
4. Indo-Pacific: Both countries support freedom of navigation and emphasise information sharing and maritime domain awareness. Their geographical positions provide complementary maritime roles, with Japan focused on the East China Sea and India on the Indian Ocean.

Defence-Technology Cooperation

1. Political and strategic convergence has not yet produced comparable progress in joint defence-technology development. Cooperation is being explored in areas such as naval construction and ship-repair facilities.
2. The agreement on UNICORN, a naval radar mast intended to improve the stealth capability of vessels, represents an initial move towards joint defence-technology development.

Economic and Technology Cooperation

1. Supply Chain Resilience: India, Japan and Australia launched the Supply Chain Resilience Initiative in 2021 to diversify import and export destinations, reduce dependence on a single country and strengthen supply chains for critical minerals.
2. Semiconductors: Japanese firm Renaissance Electronics has established a mass-production facility in Gujarat.
3. Artificial Intelligence: The India-Japan AI Corporation Initiative promotes industry-academia cooperation, including research on a large language model for multilingual translation.
4. Space Cooperation: Under Chandrayaan-5/LUPEX, India and Japan plan a joint lunar landing mission to map water presence near the Moon’s south pole.
5. Skilling and Mobility: The Technical Intern Training Programme and Specified Skilled Worker framework seek to bridge skill gaps among Indians moving to Japan. Japan has also invited 500 highly skilled Indian AI professionals by 2030 for cross-border technological cooperation.
6. Green Energy: A Japanese company is financing bamboo-based bioethanol production in Assam, linking clean-energy transition with livelihood opportunities in the Northeast.

Major Challenges

1. Asymmetric Trade

• The SEPA (Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement) covers goods, services and investment, but India continues to face a trade deficit with Japan. Bilateral trade volume increased by nearly 80% between 2021 and 2025–26.
• Japanese sanitary and phytosanitary measures and technical standards create non-tariff barriers for Indian agricultural and pharmaceutical exports. In May 2026, Japan banned premium Indian mango imports after identifying fumigation-related lapses at an Indian treatment facility.

2. Strategic Divergence over Russia

• Japan follows G7 sanctions on Russia, whereas India maintains strategic autonomy and continues its relations with Russia, including in defence and energy.

3. Defence Technology Sharing

• Japan’s reluctance to share defence technology has constrained deeper co-production. The proposed procurement of the ShinMaywa US-2 amphibious aircraft did not materialise because of concerns over technology sharing.

4. Limited Impact in Africa

• The Asia-Africa Growth Corridor (AAGC) was launched in 2017, but its ability to provide a counterweight to China’s Belt and Road Initiative remains limited. The constraints identified in the source include China’s greater financial capacity, slow Japanese financing and lower risk-taking by Japanese private firms.

Way Forward

1. Improve market access: Regular negotiations should address non-tariff barriers and help Indian exporters meet Japanese standards.
2. Strengthen testing infrastructure: Plug-and-play testing facilities, particularly for MSMEs, can improve export readiness.
3. Expand skill partnerships: More skill-bridging initiatives can strengthen people-to-people mobility and better align Indian capabilities with Japanese requirements.
4. Facilitate Japanese investment: Plug-and-play manufacturing infrastructure, single-window clearances and tax holidays can attract Japanese companies to Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities, particularly in electronics and semiconductors.
5. Promote defence co-development: More agreements on joint development and production can deepen defence-industrial cooperation.
6. Strengthen the Africa partnership: India can combine its digital infrastructure capabilities with Japan’s financial resources to support projects suited to local requirements.

Conclusion

India–Japan ties now span security, technology and economic cooperation. Converting this broad convergence into effective implementation will determine the depth of the partnership.

FAQs

1. What is the primary strategic basis of India–Japan cooperation?
   Maritime and Indo-Pacific cooperation form a major foundation, supported by shared emphasis on regional stability, information sharing and freedom of navigation.
2. How can India benefit from Japan’s ageing demographic structure?
   India can address skill shortages in Japan through trained workforce mobility, while Indian workers gain greater access to employment opportunities.
3. Why is supply-chain diversification important for India and Japan?
   It reduces excessive dependence on a single source and helps build more resilient supply chains, particularly for strategically important inputs.
4. Why has the AAGC struggled to match China’s regional outreach?
   Its implementation has been constrained by financial limitations, slower funding and lower private-sector risk appetite.
5. What is the difference between defence procurement and defence co-development?
   Procurement involves buying defence equipment, whereas co-development requires countries to work together in developing defence technologies and equipment.
6. Why are quality standards important for India’s exports to Japan?
   Meeting prescribed standards is essential for Indian products to gain and retain access to the Japanese market, especially in sensitive sectors such as agriculture and pharmaceuticals.