India & Japan take recent shifts in their stride

Talks of a major rift were also put to rest by the joint statement, which largely hewed to India's stated position

As Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida landed in Delhi, the stakes were high. While both sides were meeting to continue the tradition of annual bilateral summits, neither party could ignore the broader shifts in the international system. For some weeks now, New Delhi has watched as much of the Western world and its allies abroad, including Japan, have mobilised in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. As whispers of Western discontent with India’s more measured position on the Ukraine crisis made the rounds, New Delhi’s first in-person meeting with a major ally would be a portent of things to