To boost manufacturing, India need not choose between Japan and China

Last week, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi led a business delegation to New Delhi for the 16th India-Japan annual summit. During last year’s summit in Tokyo, Takaichi’s predecessor, Shigeru Ishiba, and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi outlined the Japan-India Joint Vision for the next decade – during which period India may see up to 10 trillion yen (US$62 billion) in investment from Japan.Some of Japan’s most notable investments in India have been in the financial sector. Japanese financial group MUFG’s US$4.4 billion stake in Shriram Finance announced last December is one example.Japan has been a major investor in India, with a cumulative Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) of over US$48 billion this century. Leaving aside Singapore and Mauritius, which serve as domiciles for channelling investments to India, Japan was second only to the US in the scale of FDI investment in India – with US$3.2 billion in the 2025-26 financial year.