Japan’s Hawk Takes Flight: Sanae Takaichi And The Rise Of The India-Japan Strategic Axis – OpEd
Japan’s parliamentary election results announced yesterday have decisively reshaped the country’s political and strategic trajectory. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, already in office since October 2025 after succeeding Shigeru Ishiba, has now consolidated power with a commanding two-thirds majority in the National Diet. This electoral mandate not only secures domestic political stability for her administration but also provides the political capital necessary to pursue an assertive foreign and security policy. For the Indo-Pacific and particularly for India and the wider Indian subcontinent this outcome carries significant geopolitical implications.
A close ideological and political inheritor of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Takaichi represents the most explicit continuation of Japan’s conservative, nationalist turn in recent decades. Her “Japan First” doctrine, combined with a distinctly hawkish approach toward China, aligns closely with the strategic anxieties and interests of India and its neighboring states. With the electoral verdict removing internal constraints, Tokyo is now positioned to deepen its strategic engagement across South Asia, reinforcing an emerging India-Japan axis as a central pillar of regional balance.
Takaichi’s foreign policy remains firmly rooted in Abe’s “Free and Open Indo-Pacific” (FOIP) framework, which identifies India as a cornerstone partner. Shortly after assuming office, she underscored this priority in her first phone conversation with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 29, 2025, emphasizing shared democratic values and convergent strategic interests. Yesterday’s electoral endorsement strengthens her hand to operationalize this vision more decisively, particularly through multilateral mechanisms such as the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad), comprising Japan, India, Australia and the United States.
For India, this convergence is timely. Ongoing border tensions with China along the Line of Actual Control, particularly in Ladakh and Arunachal Pradesh which are parallel to Japan’s own territorial disputes with Beijing in the East China Sea over the Senkaku Islands. Takaichi’s reputation as a China hawk coupled with her advocacy for reduced economic dependence on Beijing now signals a willingness to translate political alignment into concrete security cooperation.With a strengthened mandate, the Takaichi government is expected to expand joint military exercises, intelligence sharing and defense technology collaboration with India. Naval cooperation, including the Malabar exercises involving Quad partners, is likely to intensify, enhancing India’s maritime posture in the Indian Ocean which is an artery vital to the economic lifelines of the entire subcontinent.
The broader regional implications are noteworthy. Smaller South Asian states such as Sri Lanka and the Maldives, which have faced growing debt exposure under China’s Belt and Road Initiative, could benefit indirectly from Japan’s expanded infrastructure and connectivity investments. Tokyo’s emphasis on transparent financing and sustainable development offers an alternative development model, mitigating China’s strategic leverage in the region.
Defense cooperation is also advancing in technological domains. Building on initiatives launched during the Abe era, Takaichi has endorsed co-development projects such as the Unified Complex Radio Antenna (UCRA) for naval stealth communications. During her bilateral meeting with Modi at the G20 Summit in Johannesburg in November 2025, she further committed to collaboration in artificial intelligence and semiconductor technologies which are critical enablers of next-generation defense capabilities. These initiatives align with India’s defense industrial corridors in Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu potentially attracting greater Japanese manufacturing investment. Takaichi’s background as Japan’s former economic security minister is particularly relevant in the post-election context. Her administration views supply chain resilience as a strategic imperative, accelerating diversification away from China. India stands out as a primary beneficiary of this shift.
Japanese investment in India’s semiconductor ecosystem, manufacturing and advanced technologies rightly mingle with New Delhi’s “Make in India” and “Atmanirbhar Bharat” initiatives. The Japan-India Joint Vision for the Next Decade, repeatedly referenced by Takaichi, provides an institutional framework for expanding cooperation in innovation, infrastructure and high-value manufacturing. With electoral stability assured, Japanese firms such as Toyota, Sony and other industrial majors are likely to scale up operations in India.
The spillover effects extend across the subcontinent. Bangladesh could see an expansion of Japanese-backed manufacturing projects, while Nepal and Bhutan may benefit from trilateral Japan-India cooperation in hydropower and infrastructure development, strengthening regional energy security and employment. Energy cooperation represents another strategic pillar. Takaichi’s support for nuclear energy expansion in Japan opens avenues for collaboration on small modular reactors (SMRs), which could assist India’s transition toward cleaner energy while reducing reliance on coal. Although her approach to renewables is selective, cooperation in electric vehicles, battery storage and grid modernization could accelerate South Asia’s broader energy transition.
Labor mobility remains a nuanced but strategically important area. Takaichi favors targeted immigration policies focused on skilled professionals, aligning well with India’s strengths in information technology, aerospace, healthcare and cybersecurity. Existing Human Resource Exchangeframeworks provide a basis for expanding skilled migration, addressing Japan’s demographic challenges while generating remittance flows to South Asia.
The personal rapport between PM Takaichi and PM Modi further reinforces institutional alignment. Following her snap election victory, Takaichi publicly reaffirmed her commitment to elevating bilateral ties, expressing confidence in PM Modi’s leadership and the future of the India-Japan partnership. Such signaling while being diplomatic still reflects a broader strategic continuity now reinforced by electoral legitimacy. Challenges remain. Takaichi’s domestic priorities and selective engagement with soft diplomacy could constrain cultural exchanges that historically underpinned bilateral goodwill. Nevertheless, the strategic fundamentals are robust. Japan’s readiness to invest abroad, coupled with India’s economic scale and strategic weight, positions the partnership as a stabilizing force in an increasingly multipolar Asia.
In sum, yesterday’s parliamentary election results marked more than a domestic political victory for Sanae Takaichi. They consolidate Japan’s strategic turn toward a firmer Indo-Pacific posture, with India at its core. For the Indian subcontinent, this strengthened India-Japan axis offers not only enhanced security and economic opportunities but also a viable counterbalance to regional instability and coercive power projection reshaping the balance of Eurasian geopolitics in the decade ahead.