Japan PM Takaichi Likely To Skip Guwahati During India Visit, Summit To Be Held In Delhi
Japan PM Takaichi Likely To Skip Guwahati During India Visit, Summit To Be Held In Delhi Reported By, Edited By Last Updated: June 23, 2026
Japan PM Takaichi Likely To Skip Guwahati During India Visit, Summit To Be Held In Delhi Reported By, Edited By Last Updated: June 23, 2026, 12:54 IST Sources said Takaichi is required to return to Japan amid an ongoing session of the Diet, the country’s parliament, leaving only a narrow window for the India visit Rapid Read Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and PM Narendra Modi. (AFP) Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is likely to confine her maiden official visit to India next month to New Delhi, with Guwahati no longer expected to feature on the itinerary despite being considered as a possible venue for the high-profile trip, CNN-News18 has learnt. According to sources, Takaichi is expected to visit India from July 1 to 3 for talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, aimed at advancing cooperation in areas ranging from security and critical minerals to trade and strategic connectivity. While India had proposed Guwahati as a potential venue for part of the visit, the idea has now been dropped owing to time constraints and logistical considerations linked to the Japanese prime minister’s packed schedule.
Sources said Takaichi is required to return to Japan amid an ongoing session of the Diet, the country’s parliament, leaving only a narrow window for the India visit. Given the compressed schedule and the additional logistical requirements associated with travel outside the national capital, both sides are now understood to be working towards a Delhi-centric programme. The revised itinerary is also expected to accommodate several bilateral engagements that New Delhi and Tokyo view as important for giving fresh momentum to the India-Japan partnership. The development is significant because Guwahati has long occupied a special place in India’s vision for ties with Japan under the Act East policy. The proposal to host an India-Japan summit in Guwahati dates back nearly seven years. In December 2019, PM Modi and then Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe were scheduled to hold the annual India-Japan summit in the Assam capital. The decision was widely viewed as an effort to showcase the Northeast as a gateway to Southeast Asia and underline Japan’s growing role in the region’s infrastructure and connectivity projects.
However, the summit was called off amid widespread protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), with both sides eventually deciding not to proceed with the visit. Since then, Guwahati has remained a symbolic reminder of New Delhi’s ambition to place the Northeast at the centre of its engagement with East and Southeast Asia. Strategic Talks In Delhi Takaichi’s visit comes at a time when India and Japan are seeking to deepen cooperation across a range of strategic sectors. As reported earlier by News18, discussions are expected to cover supply chain resilience, critical minerals, semiconductor cooperation, defence ties and efforts to reduce dependence on China in sensitive technology sectors. The two countries are also expected to review progress under the Special Strategic and Global Partnership, which has expanded significantly over the past decade amid growing concerns over China’s assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific. The visit will be closely watched as Takaichi’s first official trip to India since assuming office and is expected to set the tone for the next phase of India-Japan relations.
The BriefWire