International, April 23: India and Japan have held their inaugural Artificial Intelligence Strategic Dialogue in Mumbai, marking a significant step towards aligning policy frameworks, talent development and industry collaboration under a long-term technology partnership.
The meeting was co-chaired by Amit A Shukla of the Ministry of External Affairs and Hanada Takahiro of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Discussions focused on expanding cooperation across the full artificial intelligence ecosystem, including software development, hardware capabilities and industrial applications.
The dialogue follows the India-Japan AI Cooperation Initiative announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida during their 2025 summit, where artificial intelligence was identified as a central pillar of bilateral engagement for the coming decade.
Officials emphasised the importance of policy convergence to ensure compatibility in regulatory systems, enabling smoother cross-border innovation and deployment. Both sides reiterated their commitment to jointly address emerging challenges and opportunities in AI, with a focus on strengthening ties between future generations.
Beyond software collaboration, the talks highlighted industrial use cases and the need to build a “robust, innovative and trustworthy AI ecosystem”. Key areas include joint research, academic partnerships, collaborative projects and facilitating international mobility for AI professionals.
The dialogue also covered coordination in global AI governance, including engagement in multilateral platforms and policy standard-setting. Officials noted that leveraging India’s digital scale alongside Japan’s industrial expertise could play a defining role in shaping global norms for human-centric artificial intelligence.
Both countries agreed to sustain engagement through structured dialogue, positioning the partnership as a driver of innovation and economic growth in the years ahead.
