India's Modi and Japan’s Takaichi expand defense and economic security ties

NEW DELHI (AP) — Japan and India announced a series of agreements to deepen cooperation in defense, economic and maritime security following talks Thursday between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Japanese counterpart, Sanae Takaichi.

Speaking after the meeting in New Delhi, Modi said India and Japan will collaborate on naval radio antenna systems, and adopted a joint road map on economic security. He said the leaders also agreed to strengthen cooperation in artificial intelligence, shipbuilding, biogas, semiconductors and critical technologies.

“India and Japan view economic security as a shared security interest,” he said.

Japan is among India’s largest foreign investors and has backed major infrastructure projects, including the Mumbai-Ahmedabad high-speed rail line. About 1,400 Japanese companies operate in India, nearly half of them in manufacturing.

Two-way trade reached $27.5 billion in India’s 2025-26 fiscal year, while Japanese investment totaled $3.2 billion between April and December 2025, according to Indian government data.

Takaichi was in New Delhi on a three-day visit for the 16th annual India-Japan summit. Both countries seek to strengthen their partnership in the Indo-Pacific following Modi’s trip to Tokyo last year, when Japan pledged to more than double its investment in India to more than $61 billion over the next decade.

India and Japan, along with the United States and Australia, are members of the Quad, a grouping that promotes cooperation on regional security, maritime issues and defense to counter China’s growing influence in the Indo-Pacific.

Takaichi said New Delhi and Tokyo shared a commitment to Japan’s initiative of free and open Indo-Pacific based on freedom of navigation and respect for international law. “Expansion of maritime security cooperation is especially important for regional peace and stability,” she said.

Asked about the initiative, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said Thursday that some countries promoted “freedom and openness” while pursuing “confrontation and division.” He said such an approach ran counter to the region’s desire for peace, development and cooperation.

“Asia-Pacific needs stability, not turmoil; focus on cooperation, not division,” Guo said at a regular press briefing in Beijing.

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Associated Press writer Ken Moritsugu in Beijing, China contributed to this report.

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, left, and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi shake hands as they pose for photographs before their delegation level meeting in New Delhi, India, Thursday, July 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

Japan's Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, left, and India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi, right, applaud as Japan's ambassador to India Ono Keiichi, center left, and India's ambassador to Japan Nagma Mohamed Mallick hold copies of a signed bilateral agreement after their delegation level meeting in New Delhi, India, Thursday, July 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, right, shakes hand with his Japanese counterpart Sanae Takaichi during her ceremonial reception at the Indian presidential palace in New Delhi, India, Thursday, July 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi greets Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, unseen, upon her arrival for a ceremonial reception at the Presidential Palace in New Delhi, India, Thursday, July 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

Japan's Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, left, and India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi leave after briefing the media about their delegation level meeting in New Delhi, India, Thursday, July 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

The FBI has discounted some of the ransom notes that surfaced after the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie as nothing more than extortion attempts, but the agency said Wednesday it's still evaluating others that might be legitimate.

The FBI did not specify how many ransom notes have been received, other than saying “several.”

“This case continues to be investigated as a kidnapping for ransom case,” the FBI said in a statement.

The Pima County Sheriff's Department is also investigating the case. The department declined to comment on the notes Wednesday but said it's taking every tip in the investigation seriously.

Tucson TV station KOLD has said it received two notes, one demanding millions in Bitcoin in exchange for Guthrie’s return and another that said she had died. TMZ also received a note.

Guthrie is the mother of longtime “Today” show host Savannah Guthrie. Authorities believe she was kidnapped, abducted or otherwise taken against her will on Feb. 1. They found blood near the front doorstep of her home just outside Tucson, and the FBI later released surveillance videos showing a masked man on the porch that night.

Volunteers and search teams scoured the nearby desert terrain filled with cactuses, bushes and boulders in the weeks after she vanished. A volunteer group recently conducted a search for her body near the Arizona-Mexico border.

FILE - An aerial view of the home of Nancy Guthrie, the missing mother of "Today" show host Savannah Guthrie, in Tucson, Ariz., on Friday, March 6, 2026,. (AP Photo/Rebecca Noble,File)

FILE - A banner with notes from hundreds of well-wishers for Nancy Guthrie, the missing mother of "Today" show host Savannah Guthrie, is displayed outside of KVOA Newsroom on March 6, 2026, in Tucson, Ariz. (AP Photo/Rebecca Noble, File)