After Nadeem won gold and Chopra stood alongside him on the podium in Paris, Nadeem's mother Raziah Parveen said: "Winning and losing is part of sport, but they are like brothers."
The 26-year-old will defend his title in Paris, having made history in Tokyo three years ago with India's first Olympic track and field gold ever.
The 25-year-old took silver last year but he stamped his mark on the final early on with his winning throw coming in the second round.
The gold eluded him but with a landmark silver here, Olympic champion javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra still created history one more time, becoming only the second Indian and first male track and field athlete to win a medal in the World Championships.