Japan-India Relations

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.

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 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 Japanese government.

Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori’s visit to India in August 2000 provided the momentum to strengthen the Japan-India relationship. Mr. Mori and Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee decided the establishment of "Global Partnership between Japan and India". Since Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi’s visit to India in April 2005, Japan-India annual summit meetings have been held in respective capitals. When Prime Minister Manmohan Singh visited Japan in December 2006, Japan-India relationship was elevated to the "Global and Strategic Partnership". In September 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid an official visit to Japan and had a summit meeting with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. They concurred to upgrade the bilateral relationship to “Special Strategic and Global Partnership.” In December 2015, Prime Minister Abe paid an official visit to India and had a summit meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The two Prime Ministers resolved to transform the Japan-India Special Strategic and Global Partnership into a deep, broad-based and action-oriented partnership, which reflects a broad convergence of their long-term political, economic and strategic goals. They announced “Japan and India Vision 2025 Special Strategic and Global Partnership Working Together for Peace and Prosperity of the Indo-Pacific Region and the World”, a joint statement that would serve as a guide post for the “new era in Japan-India relations.”

In November 2016, Prime Minister Modi paid an official visit to Japan and had a summit meeting with Prime Minister Abe. In the Japan-India Vision Statement issued during Prime Minister Modi’s visit to Japan in October 2018, two leaders reiterated their unwavering commitment to working together towards a “Free and Open Indo-Pacific”.

In September 2021, Prime Minister Suga, who was visiting Washington D.C. for the Second Japan-Australia-India-U.S. Summit Meeting, held a summit meeting with Prime Minister Modi. In October 2021, Prime Minister Kishida held a summit telephone talk with Prime Minister Modi, soon after Prime Minister Kishida’s taking office. In March 2022, Prime Minister Kishida visited India for the first time in four and a half years as Prime Minister of Japan. In May 2022, Prime Minister Modi visited Japan for the Japan-Australia-India-U.S. Summit Meeting held in Japan. Prime Minister Modi visited Japan again for attending the state funeral for former Prime Minister Abe. In March and September 2023, Prime Minister Kishida visited India, and in May 2023, Prime Minister Modi visited Japan, and held summit meetings. 2023 is the year in which the two nations hold presidencies of the G7 and G20 respectively. The two leaders confirmed their commitment to work together on various issues in the international community and concurred to further develop Japan-India relations”.

During Prime Minister Singh’s visit to Japan in October 2008, two leaders issued "the Joint Declaration on Security Cooperation between Japan and India". There are also various frameworks of security and defense dialogue between Japan and India including Foreign and Defense Ministerial Meeting (“2+2” meeting), annual Defense Ministerial Dialogue and Coast Guard-to-Coast Guard dialogue. In September 2022, the second ”2+2” meeting was held in Tokyo.

On September 9th 2020, the 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 (so-called “Acquisition and Cross-Servicing Agreement” or ACSA) was signed. ACSA came into force on July 11th, 2021.