India, Japan Unveil New Initiatives to Boost Critical Minerals, AI, and Defence Ties Amid Global Uncertainty
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In a significant move to bolster economic security, India and Japan have announced new measures to advance cooperation in critical minerals, artificial intelligence, and defence. The initiatives were unveiled during a strategic dialogue between External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and his Japanese counterpart Toshimitsu Motegi, which focused on ensuring economic security amid global geoeconomic headwinds. As part of a bilateral economic security initiative, the two countries will establish a dialogue between their private sectors to identify challenges in critical minerals and energy. This will be followed by an economic security dialogue between India's foreign secretary and a Japanese vice minister in the first half of 2026, aimed at enhancing public-private cooperation. The two sides have agreed to organize a meeting of a joint working group on critical minerals in early 2026 to take forward cooperation on rare earth elements. They have also launched an AI Dialogue to be led by officials of the foreign ministries, giving a coherent push to engagement in the sector. Jaishankar emphasized the importance of India's economic and strategic ties with Japan, stating that the two countries have a shared obligation to shape the global order. He noted that both India and Japan attach enormous importance to economic security and de-risking their economies. The strategic dialogue also focused on supply chain resilience, investment, trade, innovation, defence, and people-to-people exchanges. Defence cooperation was a key area of discussion, with Japan agreeing to transfer technology for the Unicorn stealth antenna system to the Indian Navy. Cooperation under the Quad framework was also discussed, with Japan's foreign ministry spokesperson noting that it could be a way to ensure the US remains engaged in the Indo-Pacific. The two countries also agreed to accelerate the high-speed railway project between Ahmedabad and Mumbai, with Japan providing the latest Shinkansen technology for the venture.
