Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to embark on a crucial diplomatic tour covering both Japan and China later this week, with the visit carrying important strategic implications for India’s regional and global positioning.

According to Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, Prime Minister Modi will leave for Japan on the evening of August 28, 2025, where he will take part in the 15th India–Japan Annual Summit scheduled to be held on August 29-30.

Significantly, this trip marks Modi’s eighth visit to Japan, but it will be the first time he will hold an annual summit with Japan’s new Prime Minister, Shigeru Ishiba, who assumed office recently. This meeting will therefore serve as an opportunity to lay the foundation for Modi and Ishiba’s working relationship and to shape the next phase of bilateral cooperation under Japan’s new leadership.

The India–Japan Annual Summit represents a key institutional mechanism that anchors the “Special Strategic and Global Partnership” between the two democracies, a partnership widely seen as one of India’s most consequential bilateral relationships in the Indo-Pacific.

During the visit, Modi and Ishiba are expected to engage in wide-ranging discussions covering defence and security cooperation, trade and economy, advanced technology, innovation, and cultural and people-to-people exchanges.

Issues of regional and global significance—including maritime security, free trade, resilient supply chains, and collaborative efforts in emerging technologies like semiconductors and artificial intelligence—are expected to dominate the talks.

Considering rising geopolitical tensions in the Indo-Pacific, the Modi–Ishiba summit will be closely watched as an indicator of how India and Japan plan to deepen their alignment in shaping a rules-based regional order, while also balancing their respective engagements with other major powers such as the United States and China.

The Ministry of External Affairs has underlined that this summit is expected to reaffirm the long-standing bonds of trust and friendship between India and Japan while also giving fresh strategic direction under Ishiba’s premiership.

Following the Japan visit, Prime Minister Modi will travel to China from August 31 to September 1 at the invitation of President Xi Jinping, where he will participate in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit in Tianjin. India has been a full member of the SCO since 2017 and previously held the presidency of the Council of Heads of State during 2022-23, playing a vital role in its agenda-setting.

At the Tianjin summit, PM Modi is expected to join discussions on regional connectivity, counterterrorism, economic cooperation, and security challenges in Eurasia. Importantly, the sidelines of the SCO Summit will provide Modi the opportunity to hold bilateral meetings with several world leaders, including potentially significant engagements with Central Asian countries, Russia, and China, thereby advancing India’s multi-vector diplomacy.

The visit also gains importance as it comes in the backdrop of continuing India–China complexities; earlier this week, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi personally met PM Modi in New Delhi, handing over a message and formal invitation from President Xi Jinping for the Tianjin SCO Summit. This outreach highlights Beijing’s intent to keep high-level communication channels open in spite of existing frictions.

Taken together, Prime Minister Modi’s diplomatic tour represents an important balancing act in India’s foreign policy—deepening ties with a like-minded democratic partner in the Indo-Pacific, Japan, while also engaging constructively within a multilateral Eurasian forum, the SCO, spearheaded by China and Russia.

The back-to-back engagements in Tokyo and Tianjin underscore India’s strategic ambition to act as a bridge between the Indo-Pacific and Eurasia, projecting New Delhi’s role as an independent and influential pole in a multipolar world order.

The meetings with Shigeru Ishiba and Xi Jinping are expected to provide critical insights into the trajectory of India’s foreign relations in East Asia and its approach to navigating the complex balance of competition and cooperation with major powers in the current global environment.

Based On ANI Report