India-Japan relations



The Government and people of India are deeply saddened by the untimely demise of former Prime Minister of Japan, H.E. Mr. Abe Shinzo, and convey their sincere condolences to his family and friends and the people of Japan. Mr. Abe was a visionary leader and statesman, who worked tirelessly for the betterment of humanity. He left an indelible impression on the hearts and minds of people across the world. During his visit to India in August 2007 as Prime Minister, Mr. Abe delivered his famous "The Confluence of Two Seas" speech in the Indian Parliament, in which he stated that the India-Japan relationship is blessed with the largest potential for development of bilateral relationship anywhere in the world. His efforts have been instrumental in bringing our nations together to realize a free, open, and inclusive Indo-Pacific.

Basic Data: 

Capital and largest city: Tokyo
Population 2021 estimate: 125,502,000
GDP (nominal) 2022:  $4.912 trillion
Currency: Japanese yen (¥) 
Residents: 
  • The number of Japanese nationals residing in India: is 9,313 (as of October 2021).
  •  Number of Indian nationals residing in Japan: 36,777 (as of June 2021) 
Islands: Japan comprises 6852 islands extending along the Pacific coast of Asia. It stretches over 3000 km northeast-southwest from the Sea of Okhotsk to the East China Sea. The country's five main islands, from north to south, are Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, Kyushu, and Okinawa. The Ryukyu Islands, which include Okinawa, are a chain to the south of Kyushu. The Nanpō Islands are south and east of the main islands of Japan.

A brief history of India-japan relations:

The exchange between Japan and India is said to have begun in the 6th century when Buddhism was introduced to Japan. Indian culture, filtered through Buddhism, has had a great impact on Japanese culture, and this is the source of the Japanese people’s sense of closeness to India. India’s earliest documented direct contact with Japan was with the Todai-Ji Temple in Nara, where the consecration or eye-opening of the towering statue of Lord Buddha was performed by an Indian monk, Bodhisena, in 752 AD. After World War II, in 1949, Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru donated an Indian elephant to the Ueno Zoo in Tokyo. This brought a ray of light into the lives of the Japanese people who still had not recovered from defeat in the war. Japan and India signed a peace treaty and established diplomatic relations on 28th April 1952. This treaty was one of the first peace treaties Japan signed after World War II. Ever since the establishment of diplomatic relations, the two countries have enjoyed cordial relations. In the post-World War II period, India’s iron ore helped a great deal in Japan’s recovery from the devastation. Following Japanese Prime Minister Nobusuke Kishi’s visit to India in 1957, Japan started providing yen loans to India in 1958, as the first yen loan aid extended by the Japanese government. Today, India and Japan share a global vision of peace, stability, and shared prosperity, based on sustainable development. Shared democratic values and commitment to human rights, pluralism, open society, and the rule of law underpin the global partnership between the two countries. In the above context and given the current international situation, it was decided to reinforce the strategic focus of the global partnership between Japan and India. It was agreed during the visit of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi in 2005 that the two countries would further strengthen their cooperation and pursue an all-round and comprehensive development of bilateral relations, with a particular and urgent focus on strengthening economic ties, through full utilization of the existing and potential complementarities in their economies. It was decided that both countries would strive to develop closer dialogue and collaboration to secure peace, stability, and prosperity in Asia, promote democracy and development and explore a new architecture for closer regional cooperation in Asia. It was also agreed that the two countries would strengthen cooperation in diverse areas such as environment, energy, disarmament, nonproliferation, and security, taking advantage of, and further building on, their strategic convergences. The dynamic growth of this relationship is reflected in the number of high-level ministerial and parliamentary exchanges that have been taking place at regular intervals. There is a parallel process of business and industry in both countries taking note of the opportunities which has led to a sharp increase in the exchange of business delegations.

Economic relations:

In recent years, the economic relationship between Japan and India has steadily expanded and deepened. The volume of trade between the two countries has increased. 

  • India was the 18th largest trading partner for Japan, and Japan was the 12th largest trading partner for India in 2020. 
  • Also, direct investment from Japan to India has increased, and Japan was the 4th largest investor in India in FY2020. 
  • Japanese private-sector's interest in India is rising, and, currently, about 1,455 Japanese companies have branches in India.
  • India’s primary exports to Japan have been petroleum products, chemicals, elements, compounds, non-metallic mineral ware, fish & fish preparations, metalliferous ores & scrap, clothing & accessories, iron & steel products, and textile yarn, fabrics, and machinery, etc.
  • India’s primary imports from Japan are machinery, electrical machinery, iron and steel products, plastic materials, non-ferrous metals, parts of motor vehicles, organic chemicals, manufacturers of metals, etc.
  • The India-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) that came into force in August 2011 is the most comprehensive of all such agreements concluded by India. Japan already has invested in the $90 billion Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor. Japanese FDI into India has mainly been in the automobile, electrical equipment, telecommunications, and chemical and pharmaceutical sectors. Eg. Suzuki. Japanese companies have established ten Japan-India Institute of Manufacturing (JIM) in India. Cooperation in Railway Sector Mumbai-Ahmedabad High-Speed Railway (MAHSR). The ambitious project is being implemented with nearly 90% financial support and technology from Japan.
  • The two countries have agreed to a Bilateral Swap Arrangement that would allow their central banks to exchange local currencies for up to $75 billion. This is substantially more than the $30 billion currency swap arrangement announced between China and Japan.
  • Japan is the third-largest source of FDI ($28.160 billion between 2000 and June 2018) investment into India after Mauritius and Singapore.
  • 57 Japanese companies have committed to investing 320 billion yen in India, which is expected to create at least 3,000 new jobs.


Bilateral Treaties and Agreements:

  • Treaty of Peace (1952)
  • Agreement for Air Service (1956)
  • Cultural Agreement (1957)
  • Agreement of Commerce (1958)
  • Convention for the Avoidance of Double Taxation (1960)
  • Agreement on Cooperation in the field of Science and Technology (1985)
  • Japan-India Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (2011)
  • Agreement between the Government of Japan and the Government of the Republic of India Concerning the Transfer of Defence Equipment and Technology (2015)
  • Agreement between the Government of Japan and the Government of the Republic of India Concerning Security Measures for the Protection of Classified Military Information (2015)
  • Agreement between Japan and the Republic of India on Social Security (2016)
  • Agreement between the Government of Japan and the Government of the Republic of India for Cooperation in the Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy (2017)
  • Agreement between the Government of Japan and the Government of the Republic of India Concerning Reciprocal Provision of Supplies and Services between the Self-Defense Forces of Japan and the Indian Armed Forces (2021)

Defense cooperation:

1. India and Japan held their first bilateral exercises, ‘Dharma Guardian’and ‘Shinyuu Maitri’, in 2018. It was held between the Armies and Air Forces of both countries.
2. Japan participates in the annual India-US Malabar naval exercises regularly.
3. Japan also joined the India-US Air Force exercise ‘Cope India's an observer for the first time.
4. Progress in Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA). India has two centers – Information Management and Analysis Centre (IMAC) and Information Fusion Centre – Indian Ocean Region (IFC-IOR) located at Gurugram specifically for this purpose under the National Maritime Domain Awareness (NMDA).
5. The sale of the ShinMaywa US-2 amphibious aircraft for the Indian Navy.
6. Japan has committed to manufacturing 30 percent of the aircraft in India and which would help in the improvement of Indian defense manufacturing.
7. Acquisition and Cross-Servicing Agreement (ACSA): Negotiations are going on for the agreement through which Japan could gain access to Indian facilities in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and India could have access to Japan’s naval facility in Djibouti.

Challenges between India & Japan :

1. The trade ties have remained underdeveloped when compared to India’s trade ties with China. The bilateral trade between New Delhi and Tokyo in 2017-18 stood at a meager $15.71 billion, whereas the Sino-Indian bilateral trade in 2017 stood at $84.44 billion despite the political tensions between India and China.
2. The two sides have also been unable to collaborate in the defense sector despite their huge potential.
India is one of the biggest arms importers in the world, while Japan, especially under Abe, has been looking at arms exports, though it still remains a very divisive issue within the country. Both countries have a border and hegemonic issues with China. So their policy stance hinges generally on China, rather than growing comprehensively.
3. Both had diverging interests concerning economic issues like E-commerce rules (Osaka track), and Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership.
4. Balancing between Quad and Brics: India is a member of groups like the BRICS, which brings together Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. In addition, though New Delhi has not joined the China-led Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), it is a member of the AIIB (Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank). So India has to do a balancing act between Quad and BRICS.
5. Question mark on Quad: India has long adopted a non-aligned approach as opposed to the stauncher, pro-US foreign policy stances of Japan and Australia. The failure of these nations to come up with a joint statement points to an inherent struggle to reconcile their competing views on how best to counter the rise of China.
6. Asia-Africa Growth Corridor (AAGC) project: there is a great deal of skepticism on the feasibility of the AAGC itself as well as the nature of the projects embedded in it.

Recent updates:

Recently, the Japanese Prime Minister was on an official visit to India for the 14th India-Japan Annual Summit between the two Countries. The Summit took place at a time when the two countries were celebrating the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations and India was celebrating its 75th anniversary of Independence. Earlier, the Indian PM virtually inaugurated a Japanese ‘Zen Garden - Kaizen Academy’ at the Ahmedabad Management Association (AMA) in Gujarat.

Highlights of the 14th India-Japan annual summit:

1. Investment by Japan: Japan will invest in Rs 3.2 lakh crores in the next five years in India. 7 JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency) loans for projects in connectivity, water supply, sewerage, horticulture, healthcare, and biodiversity conservation in various States. An MoU has been signed to introduce Johkasou technology in India by Japanese companies for decentralized wastewater treatment. It is used in areas where sewage infrastructure has not yet been developed. 
2. Sustainable Development Initiative for the North Eastern Region of India: It has been launched with an eye on India’s infrastructure development in the Northeast, and includes both ongoing projects and possible future cooperation in connectivity, healthcare, new and renewable energy, as well as an initiative for strengthening bamboo value chain.
3. India-Japan Digital Partnership: On cyber security, the leaders discussed “India-Japan Digital Partnership” to enhance the digital economy through the promotion of joint projects in the area of IoT (Internet of Things), AI (Artificial Intelligence), and other emerging technologies.
Japan is looking forward to attracting more highly skilled Indian IT professionals to contribute to the Japanese ICT sector.
4. Clean Energy Partnership: The objective is to encourage manufacturing in India, the creation of resilient and trustworthy supply chains in these areas as well as foster collaboration in R&D (Research and Development). It will be implemented through the existing mechanism of Energy Dialogue.
5. Mumbai-Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail (MAHSR): India appreciated Japan’s cooperation on the MAHSR and various Metro projects in India and looked forward to the planned preparatory survey for the Patna Metro.
6. People to People Engagement: The Indian PM confirmed India’s participation in the Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan, as an opportunity to further strengthen and broaden trade, investment, and people-to-people links between the two countries.
7. Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty: The Japanese PM stressed the importance of early entry into force of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT). The Treaty intends to ban all nuclear explosions - everywhere, by everyone. It will enter into force after all 44 States listed in Annex 2 to the Treaty will ratify it. India has not yet signed the Treaty.