India and Japan on Monday, 11 May concluded the second round of the India-Japan Economic Security Dialogue in New Delhi, with both sides agreeing to deepen collaboration across strategic industrial sectors to strengthen supply chain resilience. The talks were co-chaired by Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri and Japan's Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs Takehiro Funakoshi.

What the Dialogue Covered

Officials from both nations exchanged assessments of shared economic security challenges, including economic coercion, non-market policies and practices, and overproduction. Discussions were anchored around five priority areas identified in the Japan-India Joint Statement from Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Japan in August last year: semiconductors, critical minerals, information and communication technology, clean energy, and pharmaceuticals.

Private Sector at the Table

A notable feature of this round was the participation of private sector representatives. The Japan Business Federation, the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO), and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) reported outcomes from the Japan-India Private Sector Economic Security Dialogue, which was launched during Modi's Japan visit and held on 26 March. Policy recommendations from that forum were formally presented to both governments, signalling a structured public-private coordination mechanism.

Indo-Pacific and Middle East on the Agenda

On the diplomatic front, both sides held the Japan-India Foreign Vice-Ministers' Dialogue, covering the Indo-Pacific region and the Middle East, with specific attention to the situation in Iran. The two nations agreed to cooperate on securing energy and resource supplies and reinforcing supply chain resilience for critical goods, given current Middle East tensions. Vice Minister Funakoshi also outlined Japan's recently announced initiatives on the evolution of a Free and Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP) under Prime Minister Takaichi's administration, with both sides confirming further cooperation within the Quad framework — comprising Japan, Australia, India, and the United States.

The Broader Framework

Both governments reaffirmed their commitment to the 'Japan-India Joint Vision for the Next Decade', announced during Modi's August visit. The joint vision emphasises accelerating cooperation in economic growth through investment and innovation, with the Takaichi administration placing particular weight on economic security as a policy pillar. Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal confirmed the outcomes of the dialogue on social media platform X, noting the agreement to deepen collaboration in strategic industrial sectors. Vice Minister-International Affairs, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, Takehiko Matsuo also co-chaired the economic security segment alongside Funakoshi.

Why This Matters

This dialogue comes amid a broader global reconfiguration of supply chains, driven by geopolitical tensions and the push by major democracies to reduce dependence on single-source suppliers — particularly in semiconductors and critical minerals. India and Japan, both Quad members, have been aligning their economic security architectures with this shift. Notably, this is only the second such structured dialogue between the two nations, yet it already encompasses both government-level and private-sector tracks — a pace that reflects the urgency both sides attach to supply chain diversification. With the Middle East situation adding pressure on energy corridors, the timing of this round carries added strategic weight.

The next steps will include follow-through on the private sector policy recommendations, with both governments expected to outline concrete cooperation measures across the five priority sectors in the months ahead.