During commercial roadshows in Nagoya, Union Minister Piyush Goyal announced India’s readiness to expand the scope and scale of its Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) with Japan to make the trade framework more contemporary. Japanese investments in India are progressing at an unprecedented pace, with 15% of the 10-trillion-yen investment target already realized within 10 months, positioning it for potential completion in 3 to 4 years. Fast Retailing’s brand Uniqlo plans to aggressively scale up product sourcing from India for its 4,000 global stores and expand its domestic footprint from 20 to 100 retail outlets by 2031. However, severe international shipping disruptions continue to put immense cost pressure on Indian exporters as container rates to the US skyrocketed to $10,000 per 40-foot box, the highest level recorded since the pandemic. Freight rates to Gulf ports soared from $300 to $4,000, while European routes jumped to $5,000. These surges, caused by route diversions around West Asia, acute container shortages, and rising marine insurance premiums, have driven up domestic production input costs by 15% to 20% and stretched corporate working capital cycles.