Japan PM Takaichi calls PM Modi, hopes for ‘golden chapter’ in ties with India

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, who held her first meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday, October 29, 2025, a week after taking office, said that India and Japan want to open a “golden page” in relations.

Both sides said that the Quad, economic and defense cooperation and mobility of professionals were discussed during the meeting, which lasted about 25 minutes.

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India and Japan will move forward with initiatives and agreements signed during Mr. Modi’s visit to Japan in August when he met Ms. Takaichi’s predecessor, Shigeru Ishiba, who was later forced to resign from office, Mr. Modi said in a post, discussing “their shared vision to advance the India-Japan Special Strategic and Global Partnership with a focus on economic security, defense cooperation and talent mobility.”

The Japanese Prime Minister’s Office said Ms. Takaichi stated that India and Japan shared “core values ​​and strategic interests”.

The statement said, “Japan plans to continue working together to realize the ‘Free and Open Indo-Pacific’, including the Japan-Australia-India-US (Quadrilateral)” and stated that Japan will continue to cooperate with India on security, economy, investment, innovation and people-to-people exchanges, as agreed in August. In a post responding to Mr. Modi on social media, Ms. Takaichi said she wanted to open “a new golden page in the Japan-India Special Strategic and Global Partnership” with Mr. Modi.

The new Japanese Prime Minister has already met most of his Asian and Indo-Pacific counterparts while attending last week’s ASEAN summit in Kuala Lumpur, where Mr Modi retreated. Ms. Takaichi will be in Gyeongju, South Korea, on Thursday for the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit (APEC).

Asked if he would meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping, who will hold a closely watched summit with US President Trump on Thursday morning, Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara said his schedule was still being finalized.

The conversation between the two Prime Ministers took place a day after US President Donald Trump’s visit to Japan, when Ms Takaichi also referred to the Quad among other initiatives in the Indo-Pacific. However, it is unclear whether the leaders discussed the dates of their participation in the Quadrilateral Summit, which was planned to be hosted by India this year but was postponed due to India-US trade tensions and some other issues.

“[Mr. Trump and I] We affirmed that we will further enhance the deterrence and intervention capabilities of the Japan-U.S. Alliance and advance cooperation with like-minded partners, including Japan-U.S.[South Korea]Japan-US-Philippines and Japan-US-Australia-India (Quad),” Ms. Takaichi said in a press release at the end of the visit on Wednesday, adding their commitment to “the Free and Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP) first advocated by former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.”