Modi Says India Will Work More Closely with Japan on Defense, in Interview with Yomiuri Shimbun

By Sachiko Aoki / Yomiuri Shimbun Correspondent

2:00 JST, August 29, 2025

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi indicated he would improve defense cooperation with Japan in a recent written interview with The Yomiuri Shimbun ahead of his visit to Japan on Friday.

Modi said the Japan-India Joint Declaration on Security Cooperation, which is to be revised during his visit, will “advance our ambition for shaping a secure and stable Indo-Pacific for generations to come.”

The revised draft of the joint declaration — originally signed in 2008 — incorporates new areas of cooperation such as economic security and defense industry collaboration. Japan and India plan to exchange the revised document during a meeting Friday between Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and Modi.

The Modi administration is hurrying to diversify its sources of defense equipment, much of which it used to get from Russia, and Japan has moved up its transfer of ship antennas to India. Modi said collaboration in the defense sector has been “a strong success story for India and Japan.”

“Japan also has a proven record in the field of defense technology,” he wrote. He added, “Together, with political trust and natural complementarities, we can design and produce next generation defense platforms not just for ourselves, but also for the world,” suggesting cooperation with an eye toward sales to third countries.

As for the Quad alliance, comprising Japan, India, the United States and Australia, Modi noted how it has expanded to cover maritime security, disaster relief and space cooperation. “We can continue to deliver practical solutions and tangible outcomes that benefit not only our region but the wider world,” he said. “As fellow members of the Quad, we value our partnership with Japan and look forward to working closely with Japan to implement Quad initiatives and set new ambitions ahead.”

India is working to produce semiconductors domestically as global supply chains are reorganized due to U.S.-China trade friction. Modi wrote, “By combining India’s scale and capabilities with Japan’s advanced technologies, we can build a resilient and trusted semiconductor value chain,” and stressed that cooperation in the sector will become “a major pillar of the India–Japan partnership.”

India’s prime minister also described a high-speed rail project in India that will adopt Japan’s Shinkansen system as “a flagship project between India and Japan” and said he is “aiming to have the passenger services start in a few years’ time.” The rail project will connect the commercial hub of Mumbai and the industrial city of Ahmedabad.

“We have unveiled a bigger ambition,” Modi added. “To have a 7,000-kilometer-long network of high-speed rail in our country. I welcome active participation by Japanese companies in this endeavor.”

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Written Interview Responses