Critical minerals to semiconductor: What's on the agenda as Japan PM reaches India

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi arrived in New Delhi for a three-day visit to attend the 16th India-Japan Annual Summit, meeting with the Prime Minist...

What Happened

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi arrived in New Delhi for a three-day visit to attend the 16th India-Japan Annual Summit, meeting with the Prime Minister of India.
The summit agenda focused on economic security cooperation, with a joint declaration expected on resilient supply chains in semiconductors, critical minerals, clean energy, ICT, and medical goods.
A joint plan on Artificial Intelligence cooperation was expected to be adopted, advancing the Japan-India AI Cooperation Initiative for sectors including manufacturing, healthcare, and mobility.
Around 10 bilateral agreements were anticipated to be finalised, including those on defence technology and industrial value chain linkages connecting the Bay of Bengal with Northeast India.
The summit reinforced both nations' "Special Strategic and Global Partnership" (established 2014), building on Japan's "Free and Open Indo-Pacific" vision and India's "Act East Policy."

Static Topic Bridges

Special Strategic and Global Partnership (India-Japan)

India and Japan have maintained diplomatic ties since 1952. The relationship was first elevated to "Global Partnership" in 2000, then to "Strategic and Global Partnership" in 2006 (during PM Manmohan Singh's visit to Japan), and further upgraded to "Special Strategic and Global Partnership" in September 2014. Annual summit meetings between the two heads of government have been held alternately in New Delhi and Tokyo since 2006 — a mechanism unique among India's bilateral ties.

First Japan-India Annual Summit held: 2006
Current partnership level: Special Strategic and Global Partnership (since 2014)
Key document: "Japan & India Vision 2025" (2014); "India-Japan Joint Vision for the Next Decade" (2026 update)
India-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA): signed February 2011, in force August 2011 — covers ~94% tariff elimination, services, investment, and cooperation in 12 sectors

Connection to this news: The 16th Annual Summit is part of the institutionalised yearly summit mechanism and reflects the deepening of this structured bilateral engagement beyond ODA dependency into strategic co-production and technology partnership.

Economic Security and Supply Chain Resilience

"Economic security" refers to a state's ability to protect critical supply chains, strategic industries, and technological ecosystems from geopolitical disruption. Both India and Japan see China's dominance in critical mineral processing and semiconductor materials as a structural vulnerability — motivating joint investment in alternative supply chains.

Supply Chain Resilience Initiative (SCRI): Trilateral initiative among India, Japan, and Australia launched in 2021 to diversify away from China-dependent supply networks
Quad Critical Minerals Initiative: Launched in July 2025 by India, Japan, Australia, and the US; Quad Critical Minerals Initiative Framework (May 2026) committed up to USD 20 billion across the Indo-Pacific
India's India-Japan Economic Security Initiative (2024) designated critical minerals, semiconductors, and clean energy as priority cooperation sectors

Connection to this news: The summit's joint declaration on economic security directly operationalises the bilateral dimension of these multilateral frameworks, potentially resulting in government-to-government offtake agreements and co-investment in mineral-to-chip value chains.

Critical Minerals — India's Policy Framework

Critical minerals are raw materials economically and strategically crucial for modern industries — including clean energy, defence, electronics, and advanced manufacturing — that face supply risks due to geographic concentration of reserves or processing capacity. India identified 30 critical minerals in 2023 (Mines Ministry), up from an initial list of 24.

Khanij Bidesh India Ltd (KABIL): PSU formed in 2019; mandate to acquire critical mineral assets abroad (lithium agreement with Argentina signed in 2024)
National Critical Mineral Mission (NCMM): Launched January 2025; outlay of ₹34,300 crore over seven years (2024-25 to 2030-31)
India is 100% import-dependent for 10 critical minerals (Mines Ministry 2023 data)
Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Act, 2023: enabled auctioning of deep-sea and offshore mineral blocks; strengthened upstream security

Connection to this news: India-Japan cooperation in critical minerals offers India an alternative to Chinese supply chains, while Japan — which lacks domestic mineral reserves — gains access to India's geology and to jointly-sourced minerals from Africa and Latin America via KABIL.

India's Semiconductor Ecosystem

Semiconductors are the foundational components of all digital devices and advanced systems. India had virtually no domestic chip manufacturing until the Semicon India Program was launched in December 2021 (Cabinet approval; INR 76,000 crore / ~USD 10 billion outlay). The program is administered by the Indian Semiconductor Mission (ISM) under MeitY.

Semicon India Program: Announced December 15, 2021; fiscal support of 50% of project cost for eligible semiconductor fabs for six years
India Semiconductor Mission (ISM): Nodal agency under Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY)
India Semiconductor Mission 2.0 announced in February 2026 to scale up domestic capacity further
Japan is a global leader in semiconductor equipment and materials; Tokyo Electron, Sumco, Shin-Etsu Chemical are major players

Connection to this news: Japan's expertise in semiconductor equipment and materials, combined with India's Semicon India Mission and large domestic demand, creates complementary conditions for joint fab development, materials supply agreements, and R&D linkages.

Act East Policy and the Indo-Pacific

India's Act East Policy (announced 2014, replacing "Look East" policy of 1992) prioritises engagement with Southeast and East Asian nations on trade, connectivity, culture, and strategic partnerships. Japan's Free and Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP) vision — articulated by PM Shinzo Abe in 2016 — calls for rules-based maritime order, freedom of navigation, and economic connectivity across the region.

Act East Forum (India-Japan): Launched 2017; focuses on development and connectivity in India's Northeast
North East Road Network Project: 750-km connectivity project under the Act East Forum
Industrial township planned in Jagiroad, Assam, with Japanese firms Fujifilm and Tokyo Electron among potential investors
Japan's FOIP and India's Act East Policy converge on ASEAN centrality and maritime security in the Indian Ocean and Western Pacific

Connection to this news: The "Industrial Value Chain" linking the Bay of Bengal with Northeast India — an agenda item at the 2026 summit — is a direct application of Act East Policy and FOIP convergence, aiming to transform Northeast India into a manufacturing and connectivity hub.

Key Facts & Data

16th India-Japan Annual Summit: July 2026, New Delhi
Bilateral trade (2025-26): USD 27.4 billion (up from USD 5 billion in 2004-05)
Japan's FDI in India (2000–June 2025): USD 44.97 billion (Japan is India's 5th largest investor)
Cumulative Japanese ODA to India: Over JPY 6,978 billion (INR 4,40,742 crore)
Japan has been India's largest bilateral ODA lender since 1958
CEPA (2011): ~94% tariff elimination over 10 years
Malabar Naval Exercises: India-Japan (now trilateral with US) since 2007
Supply Chain Resilience Initiative (SCRI): India, Japan, Australia — launched 2021
National Critical Mineral Mission (2025): ₹34,300 crore, 7-year outlay
Semicon India Program (2021): INR 76,000 crore; 50% fiscal support for fabs