Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi will travel to Guwahati, Assam in the first week of July 2025 for the India-Japan annual summit, accompanied by top executives from 50 Japanese companies — including Suzuki Motor President Toshihiro Suzuki and senior leaders from trading conglomerate Itochu, according to a report in Nikkei Asia. The visit marks Takaichi's first trip to India since she assumed office in October 2025.

Who Is Coming and Why

The Japanese business delegation is expected to centre its agenda on investment opportunities, industrial cooperation, and supply chain partnerships. The choice of Guwahati as the summit venue is significant: Assam is rapidly emerging as a hub for semiconductor production, and economic security — spanning semiconductors, critical minerals, artificial intelligence, and information and communications technology — sits at the core of the India-Japan Special Strategic and Global Partnership.

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had alluded to the visit as early as 13 June, saying the state was preparing to welcome a 'powerful global leader' next month, without naming the dignitary at the time.

Strategic Context: Semiconductors and the Indo-Pacific

The summit is expected to accelerate a joint initiative to secure supply chains for critical goods including telecommunications equipment, pharmaceuticals, critical minerals, semiconductors, and clean energy — a roadmap first outlined at the 15th India-Japan annual summit held in Tokyo on 29-30 August 2024, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi and then-Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba reaffirmed the bilateral partnership and set a decade-long agenda across economics, security, and technology.

A key component of Japan's Free and Open Indo-Pacific framework, announced in 2023, involves an industrial corridor linking the Bay of Bengal with northeastern India — an initiative both governments are now actively accelerating. Hosting the summit in Guwahati signals a deliberate push to anchor that corridor in India's northeast.

Japanese Investment in India: The Numbers

Japanese foreign direct investment (FDI) into India has grown steadily. Outward FDI from Japan to India stood at $1.79 billion in 2022-23 and rose to $3.1 billion in 2023-24, with $1.36 billion recorded in 2024-25 up to December 2024. Cumulatively, Japanese FDI in India has totalled approximately $43.2 billion between 2000 and December 2024, placing Japan fifth among all source countries for FDI into India.

According to the latest joint survey by the Embassy of Japan in India and the Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO), 1,400 Japanese companies are currently registered in India, with manufacturing firms accounting for roughly half. These companies collectively operate nearly 5,000 business establishments — including liaison offices, branch offices, and local subsidiaries. More than 100 Indian companies are also active in Japan.

India Tops Japanese Business Confidence Rankings

India's appeal to Japanese investors has reached a record high. According to the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) Survey for 2024, India retained its position as the top promising country for investment over the next three years, with a vote share of 58.7% — up from 48.6% in 2023. India also ranked first for the 15th consecutive year as the most promising country in the long-term (next 10 years), with companies citing the 'future growth potential of the local market' as the primary driver.

Key sectors attracting Japanese capital include automobiles, electrical equipment, telecommunications, chemicals, financial services (insurance), and pharmaceuticals. With the Guwahati summit set to deepen ties further, both governments appear poised to move from strategic declarations to concrete industrial commitments.