Japan, India boost 'next-gen' business ties amid geopolitical uncertainties

Both seek to protect 'critical economic interests' in the face of US trade tariffs

- Rohini Mohan India Correspondent and Walter Sim Japan Correspondent

BENGALURU/TOKYO Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants bullet trains from Japan in India, and his Japanese counterpart Shigeru Ishiba would be more than happy to make it happen.

Their beaming smiles in a shinkansen cockpit on Aug 30 as they travelled from Tokyo to Sendai in north-east Japan revealed how the superfast train project was the cherry on top of the partnership between the two countries, which had just held a bilateral summit.

India is only the second shinkansen export destination for Japan, after Taiwan, and confers on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Rail the prestige of a flagship project. Symbolically, the two leaders were seen off at Tokyo Station by Indian train drivers who were undergoing training in Japan.

The substantial sundae beneath is made up of two flavours based on each country's signature strengths, described by Mr Modi as "Japan's technology and India's talent" on his two-day visit to Japan from Aug 29 to 30.

Geopolitical uncertainties have given Japan and India – the world's fourth- and fifth-largest economies – more impetus to work together closely, and their summit document describes their "shared interest in safeguarding critical economic interests".

This includes sensitive fields related to economic security, such as semiconductors, steel, critical minerals, artificial intelligence and clean energy, which were described as "next-generation" sectors.

A total of 170 memorandums of understanding (MOUs) were signed between Japanese and Indian entities, including one to collaborate in the defence sector.

That the two countries are part of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad), along with Australia and the United States, "gave a fillip to this strategic investment in economic security", said research analyst Vanshika Saraf of the Indo-Pacific Studies Programme at Takshashila Institution.