After a successful visit to Japan for two days, Prime Minister Narendra Modi (PM Modi) left for China on Saturday (August 30, 2025) to attend the biennial Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit. The SCO summit will take place in Tianjin, on August 31 and September 1, and will be vital for India-China future, as geopolitics at the international level is going through a trend revolutionary shift.
The significance of this year’s summit is heightened because it follows a sudden deterioration of India-U.S. relations with U.S. President Donald Trump’s imposition of 50% tariffs on Indian exports, which has led to uncertainty in the current economy. India’s cooperation with regional partners like Japan and China in a landscape of unfettered U.S. influence, follows through with the stability and development of the region.
The India-Japan Strategic Partnership has to be bolstered
During his Japan visit, Prime Minister Modi visited his Japanese counterpart Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba at the 15th Annual India-Japan Summit. The two premiers initiated a range of initiatives to enhance cooperation in manufacturing, digital innovation, mobility, next-generation infrastructure, space exploration, environment, people-to-people exchanges, and cultural exchanges at the people’s level at the summit.
The two countries signed 13 principal declarations and agreements, which shall further enhance their relationship under the Special Strategic and Global Partnership memorandum of understanding. Some of the most important areas of agreement include human resource exchange, technological innovation, startup ecosystem, and climate change initiatives.
These two days in Japan will remain historic for the productive outcome which will benefit the people of our nations. I thank Prime Minister Ishiba, Japanese citizens, and the Government for their warm hospitality and cooperation,” Prime Minister Modi wrote on X in a post, giving hope to bilateral relationships in the future.
Visit to Sendai: Seminar on Semiconductors
The trip was highlighted by Prime Minister Modi’s visit to Sendai in Miyagi Prefecture, where he along with Prime Minister Ishiba was able to tour a significant semiconductor manufacturing facility. This trip reiterated India’s priority with promoting resilient supply chains and decreasing dependence on several countries in the world for critical technology.
The heads of state traveled on the famous Japanese bullet train from Tokyo to Sendai, which underscored the scope of India-Japan collaboration on advanced mobility and infrastructure. The collaboration on semiconductors will significantly strengthen India’s efforts under “Make in India” and “Digital India” to create a global hub for electronics production.
Meeting with Japanese Governors
Another notable engagement that occurred during the visit was the meeting between Prime Minister Modi and the governors of 16 Japanese prefectures in Tokyo. The meeting was an opportunity to enhance state-prefecture engagement. This will allow Indian states to have direct engagement with Japanese prefectures in areas of trade, startups, entrepreneurship, cultural exchanges and skill development.
I had an opportunity today to talk with 16 of the governors of Japanese prefectures in Tokyo. State-prefecture cooperation is an important part of India-Japan friendship. “There is great potential for cooperation on trade, innovation, entrepreneurship, and new areas like technology and AI,” Modi said.
This initiative is seen to create a new motivation in bilateral relations by encouraging increased interactions between individual people, while also allowing economic interactions to occur at a regional level aside from the central governments.
India and Japan have a longstanding bilateral foundation that seems to be evolving into one of the most powerful partnerships in Asia. Not only do both democracies have a common shared set of values and economic concerns, both countries have common concerns about insecurity in the region. The two countries are quickly developing partnerships in maritime security, green energy, infrastructure development, and technology.
Japan has long been a significant investor in India and a partner in projects that can be described as transformative, such as the Mumbai Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail Corridor (Bullet Train Project) and other next-generation infrastructure projects. Modi’s recent visit has strengthened the bond and created new areas of collaboration.
Moving to China for the SCO Summit
Now that he is finished with his Japan tours, Prime Minister Modi is contemplating heading east to China to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit from August 31 to September 1 in Tianjin. The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) is a multilateral platform made up of 10 members that provides an exclusive forum to discuss regional issues, such as security, economic growth, and counter-terrorism.
India’s engagement with the summit is seen to be crucial given the current geopolitical environment. Aside from negotiations around trade and connectivity, it will be interesting to see if the summit gives India an opportunity for some direct engagement with China, given the number of bilateral issues on the table.
Conclusion
Prime Minister Modi’s consecutive travels to Japan and China highlight India’s assertive agency in shaping the political and economic architecture of Asia. Modi’s visit to Japan solidified the Special Strategic and Global Partnership by signing 13 important agreements and initiatives. His attendance at the SCO summit will give India an opportunity to assert its role in promoting regional stability and multilateral cooperation.
With the rest of the world shifting around us, India’s movements toward Japan and China are a pragmatic move to pursue national interests and help create a more multipolar and balanced world.
