Overview
- Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and Sanae Takaichi held a roughly 25-minute call on October 29 to advance the Special Strategic and Global Partnership with a focus on economic security, defense cooperation and talent mobility, with Takaichi calling for a “new golden chapter.”
- A Japanese readout said cooperation will proceed under the Free and Open Indo-Pacific vision through the Quad, expanding work across security, the economy, investment, innovation and people-to-people exchanges.
- Takaichi arrived in South Korea for the APEC summit in Gyeongju and is set to meet President Lee Jae Myung on Thursday in her first in-person summit with the South Korean leader.
- Talks are being arranged for Takaichi to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping during APEC, with Japanese media reporting Friday as the likely timing.
- Takaichi’s early security posture includes a pledge to raise defense spending to 2% of GDP by March and the surprise selection of FOIP architect Keiichi Ichikawa as national security adviser.