Why it is in Japan's interest to invest in a 'rising' democratic India

On his visit to India this weekend, Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida arrives with three very different agendas on mind:

• A bilateral economic and security agenda.
• A regional security agenda within the framework of the Quad and the Indo-Pacific.
• A global agenda of the G-7 that Japan chairs this year.

While this multi-dimensional agenda is testimony to the maturing of India-Japan relations, it has also encouraged observers in both countries and around the world to increasingly view the bilateral relationship through the prism of regional and global challenges, rather than the other way round. In focusing on Quad and situating India-Japan relations within the geopolitical framework of the Indo-Pacific, an impression has gained ground that third countries are setting the agenda for relations between the two Asian nations.