India-Japan seek to advance coop in critical minerals, semiconductors & ICT

The second round of the India-Japan Economic Security Dialogue was held in New Delhi on May 11, 2026, co-chaired by India's Foreign Secretary and Japanese Vi...

What Happened

The second round of the India-Japan Economic Security Dialogue was held in New Delhi on May 11, 2026, co-chaired by India's Foreign Secretary and Japanese Vice Ministers.
Both sides agreed to advance cooperation across five priority sectors: critical minerals, semiconductors, information and communications technology (ICT) including AI and telecom, clean energy, and pharmaceuticals.
The focus is on building resilient and trusted supply chains in these sectors, reducing dependence on single-source supply chains — primarily China's dominance in critical mineral processing and semiconductor precursor chemicals.
Concrete outcomes include advancing joint working groups on critical minerals, advancing semiconductor assembly and testing facility (OSAT) projects, and deepening ICT collaboration including on 5G/6G and AI governance frameworks.
The dialogue builds on India's Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) with Japan (in force since 2011), the India-Japan 2+2 Foreign and Defence Ministerial Dialogue, and both nations' participation in the Quad.

Static Topic Bridges

Critical Minerals: Strategic Significance and India's Supply Chain Vulnerabilities

Critical minerals are raw materials considered essential for modern economies and national security — particularly for the clean energy transition, defence manufacturing, and advanced electronics. They include lithium, cobalt, nickel, rare earth elements (REEs), gallium, germanium, and indium. Their "critical" status reflects both their economic importance and the concentration of supply in a small number of countries (notably China, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Australia), creating strategic vulnerabilities.

China controls approximately 60% of global rare earth mining and over 85% of rare earth processing capacity.
India is almost entirely import-dependent for several critical minerals: 100% import-dependent for nickel, lithium, cobalt, and germanium.
India's National Critical Minerals Mission (NCMM) was launched in 2025 to secure supply through domestic exploration and international partnerships.
India has signed critical mineral cooperation agreements with Australia (MoU, 2022), the United States (2024 partnership), and is developing mining assets in Africa.
Toyota Tsusho (Japanese firm) has an active rare earth refining project in Andhra Pradesh, India — an example of existing India-Japan critical mineral cooperation.
The Quad (US, India, Japan, Australia) has a dedicated Critical Minerals Initiative focused on securing trusted supply chains for allied nations.

Connection to this news: The India-Japan Economic Security Dialogue explicitly prioritises critical minerals as a joint supply chain security goal, building on India's NCMM and Japan's need to reduce dependence on Chinese mineral inputs for its advanced manufacturing sector.

India's Semiconductor Strategy: India Semiconductor Mission

Semiconductors (integrated circuits) are the foundational technology for all modern electronics — smartphones, defence systems, electric vehicles, AI hardware, and communications infrastructure. Global semiconductor supply chains have become a major geopolitical battleground, concentrated in Taiwan (TSMC: ~72% of advanced foundry capacity), South Korea, and Japan, with China seeking to develop its own independent capacity. India, with a strong software and design base but no advanced fabrication capacity, is working to enter the global semiconductor manufacturing ecosystem.

India Semiconductor Mission (ISM): launched in 2021 with a total outlay of USD 10 billion; subsidises 50–70% of capital investment for semiconductor manufacturing units.
First approved fabrication unit: Tata Electronics (in partnership with PSMC of Taiwan), located in Gujarat.
Four additional semiconductor assembly and testing (OSAT) facilities are at various stages of approval or construction.
Japan's Renesas Electronics has partnered with CG Power to set up an OSAT facility in India.
India's semiconductor design ecosystem is strong (estimates suggest India hosts 20% of the world's semiconductor design engineers) but fabrication capacity is near-zero.
India's Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) have signed a semiconductor cooperation agreement.

Connection to this news: The India-Japan semiconductor cooperation targets India's specific gap — fabrication and assembly — where Japan offers both capital equipment expertise and chemical inputs. Joint projects like the Renesas-CG Power OSAT facility are a direct output of this bilateral framework.

India-Japan Strategic Bilateral Architecture

India-Japan relations have been progressively elevated over the past two decades and now constitute one of India's deepest strategic partnerships, particularly in the Indo-Pacific. The relationship is institutionalised through multiple dialogue formats:

Bilateral relationship level: "Special Strategic and Global Partnership" (elevated in 2014).
Annual Summit: India-Japan heads of government meet annually.
2+2 Dialogue: India and Japan hold the Foreign and Defence Ministers' 2+2 dialogue; inaugurated in 2019 (Japan was only the second country after the US with which India established this format).
CEPA: India-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement came into force in August 2011 — India's most comprehensive bilateral trade agreement, covering goods, services, investments, and intellectual property.
Act East Forum: India-Japan Act East Forum established in 2017 under India's "Act East Policy" and Japan's "Free and Open Indo-Pacific" vision.
Quad: Both India and Japan are Quad members (along with US and Australia), with the grouping having an active semiconductor and critical mineral supply chain cooperation track.
"Japan Vision 2025": In 2015, both countries announced a cooperation framework outlining long-term industrial and technological collaboration.

Connection to this news: The Economic Security Dialogue is a newer, sector-specific mechanism that operationalises the strategic architecture — converting high-level political commitments into concrete supply chain projects in critical technology domains.

Key Facts & Data

India-Japan Economic Security Dialogue (2nd round): May 11, 2026, New Delhi.
Five priority sectors: critical minerals, semiconductors, ICT (AI/telecom), clean energy, pharmaceuticals.
India-Japan CEPA in force: August 2011.
India-Japan relationship level: "Special Strategic and Global Partnership" (2014).
India-Japan 2+2 Dialogue: inaugurated 2019 (Japan was 2nd country after US to have this format with India).
India Semiconductor Mission (ISM): launched 2021, outlay USD 10 billion, 50–70% capital subsidy.
China's share of rare earth processing: approximately 85%+ globally.
India's import dependence: 100% for lithium, nickel, cobalt, germanium.
National Critical Minerals Mission (NCMM) launched: 2025.
Renesas (Japan) + CG Power (India) OSAT facility: Gujarat, India.
TSMC global foundry market share: approximately 72% of advanced fabrication.
Quad Critical Minerals Initiative: active track involving all four Quad members.