16th India-Japan Annual Summit Joint Statement Overview

The 16th India-Japan Annual Summit, held from 1-3 July 2026 in New Delhi, resulted in a comprehensive joint statement outlining enhanced strategic cooperation between the two nations. Japanese Prime Minister TAKAICHI Sanae's official visit marked her first to India, accompanied by senior officials, CEOs, and industry leaders. The summit focused on advancing a partnership of strategic convergence across three priority areas: defence and security cooperation; economic partnership including economic security, energy resilience, technology, and innovation; and people-to-people exchanges.

Defence and Security Cooperation

The leaders noted bilateral defence cooperation is on an upward trajectory and committed to deepening collaboration based on the Joint Declaration on Security Cooperation. They directed ministers to hold the fourth round of the 2+2 Ministerial Meeting in Tokyo by end-2026. Japan's participation in the International Fleet Review 2026 in Vishakhapatnam was welcomed. Both sides agreed to deepen maritime security cooperation through enhanced exercises, maritime domain awareness using satellite capabilities, naval maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) cooperation, and defence equipment cooperation under "Make in India".

Prime Minister Modi welcomed Japan's review of its three principles on transfer of defence equipment and technology. The leaders expressed satisfaction that an agreement has been reached in principle on remaining technical details regarding the Unified Complex Radio Antenna (UNICORN) project and expect early conclusion while exploring other defence equipment projects.

Economic Security and Trade

The leaders committed to deepening economic security cooperation to support a resilient region, expressing grave concerns over economic coercion and non-market policies including arbitrary export restrictions that may disrupt supply chains in critical minerals and industrial sectors. They emphasized the importance of diversified, reliable global supply chains and avoiding reliance on any single country.

Both sides consented to protecting high technology trade while mutually easing export control challenges and advancing consultations between relevant ministries. They adopted the India-Japan Joint Declaration on Economic Security Cooperation to promote project-based collaboration in semiconductors, critical minerals, information technology, clean energy, and pharmaceuticals.

The leaders welcomed increasing Japanese private investment toward India's national goal of Viksit Bharat and progress toward the 10 trillion Yen investment target set at the previous summit. They agreed to enhance the investment environment using the fast-track mechanism under the India-Japan Industrial Competitiveness Partnership (IJICP) and accelerate review of the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) implementation.

Energy Security and Cooperation

Recognizing their status as major energy-consuming nations, the leaders underscored urgency in deepening energy security cooperation. They emphasized ensuring unimpeded freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz and opposing restrictive measures hampering commercial vessels. They welcomed expanded collaboration across the energy value chain and committed to enhancing energy supply chain resilience bilaterally and through multilateral platforms.

The leaders agreed to explore collaborative opportunities including joint investments across the maritime energy transport value chain, highlighting regional initiatives like Japan's POWERR Asia, India's support to energy security in South Asia, and the Quad Initiative on Indo-Pacific Energy Security. They adopted a Joint Statement on Energy Resilience and agreed to strengthen cooperation on strategic petroleum reserves through best practices exchange and technical collaboration. Prime Minister Takaichi supported India's membership to the International Energy Agency (IEA).

Clean Energy and Technology Initiatives

Both leaders appreciated the launch of the India-Japan Cooperative Biogas for Growth Initiative (CBG Initiative) to scale up biogas production aligned with India's target of establishing 1,000 biogas plants and organic fertilizer plants. A Memorandum of Cooperation was signed between Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and India's Ministry of Cooperation and Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying.

They recognized the importance of hydrogen and ammonia for decarbonization and energy security, reaffirming support for the clean ammonia project in Odisha. Cooperation will extend to clean ammonia, green hydrogen, solar PV technologies, and nuclear energy.

The leaders concurred on promoting innovation in AI and enhancing national capabilities while strengthening cooperation on trusted digital infrastructure. They welcomed the inaugural India-Japan AI Strategic Dialogue and adopted a Joint Statement on AI cooperation building on the India-Japan AI Cooperation Initiative.

Infrastructure and Development Projects

The leaders reaffirmed the importance of the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Rail as a flagship project, with Japan understanding India's target to commence commercial operations on priority sections in 2027. They acknowledged the goal of introducing E10 and expressed willingness to explore cooperation on future high-speed corridors toward India's vision of a 7,000 km national network. A Memorandum of Cooperation on Next-Generation Mobility Partnership was signed.

They welcomed progress on four development projects: Mumbai Metro (Line 11), Bengaluru Metro (Phase 3), healthcare delivery and education system in Maharashtra, and sustainable horticulture in Punjab.

Regional Cooperation and Global Issues

The leaders highlighted the strategic importance of India's North Eastern Region in light of Japan's updated Free and Open Indo-Pacific policy and India's Act East Policy. They welcomed economic activities in semiconductors, biofuels, skill development, and Japanese language training, reaffirming commitment to developing industrial value chains connecting NER with the Bay of Bengal area.

They welcomed progress under the Quad framework across maritime security, economic prosperity, critical technologies, and humanitarian response. They concurred on initiating preparations for an inaugural trilateral 1.5 track policy dialogue with the Philippines and supported ASEAN Centrality.

The leaders expressed serious concern over situations in the East China Sea, South China Sea, and North Korea's nuclear programs, reaffirming commitment to denuclearization. They remained concerned about Myanmar's situation and called for immediate cessation of hostilities. Regarding the Middle East, they stressed importance of securing navigation through the Strait of Hormuz and stable energy supply chains.

They reaffirmed commitment to UN Security Council reform including expansion of permanent and non-permanent categories, expressing mutual support for each other's permanent seat candidacy. They noted understanding on mutual support for non-permanent seats in 2028-29 and 2033-34.

The leaders strongly condemned terrorism and violent extremism including cross-border terrorism from Pakistan, specifically referencing the terrorist attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir on 22 April 2025 and the Delhi terror incident on 10 November 2025. They called for concerted actions against UN-listed terrorist groups including Al Qaeda, ISIS/Daesh, LeT, and JeM.

People-to-People Exchanges

The leaders reaffirmed commitment to promoting people-to-people exchanges, noting visitors between both countries crossed 540,000 in 2025. They appreciated progress in Japanese language education through the Nihongo Partners programme and welcomed growing exchanges at regional levels between Indian states and Japanese prefectures.