Modi-Takaichi summit talks today: India, Japan set to deepen ties across trade, defence and technology

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold Annual Summit-level talks with his Japanese counterpart Sanae Takaichi in New Delhi today, 2 July.

The India-Japan Summit will provide an opportunity for both sides to review strengthen bilateral cooperation across trade, investment, defence and other key sectors.

The two leaders are also expected to exchange views on regional and global issues of mutual interest during the summit to be held at Hyderabad House. Several MoUs are expected to be exchanged following the talks between Prime Minister Modi and Prime Minister Takaichi.

Takaichi arrived in New Delhi on Wednesday on a three-day visit to India. This is Takaichi’s first official visit to India. She is visiting at PM Modi’s invitation from July 1 to 3 for the 16th India-Japan annual summit, the MEA earlier said.

Takaichi was earlier scheduled to visit Guwahati where the summit meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi was being planned. The plans were cancelled just days before the commencement of the visit.

Takaichi’s engagement today

In a special gesture for a Head of Government, not state, Prime Minister Takaichi will be welcomed at the Forecourt of the Rashtrapati Bhavan today, according to a report in The Hindu. The two sides are likly to sign at least ten memoranda of understanding (MoUs) to be announced after talks between the two leaders at at Hyderabad House.

Apart from the MoU on energy resilience, agreements on biogas, upstream development of oil and gas, exploration of critical minerals, batteries, artificial intelligence, and pharmaceuticals are also on the table.

Takaichi will also address a business meeting where more than 100 Japanese businesspersons are expected, and several MoUs will be signed. Discussions on the Green Ammonia Project in Odisha that has come up with Japanese assistance, are also expected, according to The Hindu report. The Japanese PM will also take part in discussion on that is part of India’s mobility-centric outreach with key economic partners.

What did the MEA say?

The MEA said earlier that the visit is aimed at strengthening relations with India, which is “of utmost importance for the realisation of a ‘Free and Open Indo-Pacific’.”

It said the two leaders will discuss “the further strengthening of mutually complementary cooperation” under the “Japan-India Joint Vision for the Next Decade” announced during Modi’s visit to Japan in August last year.

The discussions today will cover “the areas of economic security, including energy, as well as economic growth through investment and innovation”, the Ministry said.

Takaichi’s visit follows Modi’s trip to Tokyo in August 2025, during which the two countries unveiled the Japan-India Joint Vision for the Next Decade and Japan announced a target of investing 10 trillion yen in India over the coming decade.

“We are delighted to host you on your first visit to India and I look forward to our wide-ranging discussions tomorrow that will further deepen the India-Japan Special Strategic and Global Partnership. Through our joint efforts, we will continue to advance peace, stability and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific and beyond,” PM Modi said welcoming the Japanese leader on X on Wednesday.

India and Japan share a Special Strategic and Global Partnership, with cooperation spanning trade and investment, infrastructure, defence and security, clean energy and emerging technologies.

Takaichi’s visit to India comes amid rising uncertainties in the global arena, collaboration with India becomes even more pertinent.

On Wedensday speaking at an informal press conference regarding her visit to India, she said that she intends to advance concrete cooperation with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. She is scheduled to land in India later in the evening and meet PM Modi on Thursday.

“I will visit India shortly. Amid growing uncertainty in the international situation, the importance of collaboration with India, which shares fundamental values and strategic interests, is only increasing,” she said.

‘Local-currency settlement framework’

Expected outcome documents of the visit include a Joint Statement on the Annual Summit, energy resilience, and MOUs covering sectors like AI, pharmaceuticals, batteries, and critical minerals.

India and Japan are set to advance plans for a local-currency settlement framework that would allow direct yen-rupee transactions for bilateral trade, according to a Nikkei Asia report.

The proposal is expected to be included in the joint statement following Modi and Takaichi’s meeting at the 16th India-Japan Annual Summit, according to the report.

Under the proposed framework, Japanese entities that are non-residents in India would be allowed to open accounts with Indian banks. This would enable financial institutions in both countries to settle cross-border payments directly in yen and rupees, without routing transactions through the US dollar, Nikkei reported.