India, July 4 -- As geopolitical tensions rise, Delhi and Tokyo are positioning themselves as trusted strategic partners, in an increasingly uncertain world

The optics were carefully choreographed - a ceremonial reception at Rashtrapati Bhavan, a santoor session recalling Takaichi's days as a college drummer, and Modi's warm invocation of her as "meri chhoti behen." But beneath the pageantry lay a substantive recalibration. The two prime ministers stressed the strategic salience of the India-Japan partnership in an increasingly volatile geopolitical environment and agreed to advance cooperation in three priority areas: economic security, energy resilience and technology.

That framing is telling. This is no longer a relationship built pr...