The Hindu : National : Japan to seek road map for strategic relationship

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Aug 22, 2007
ePaper

National

National

Japan to seek road map for strategic relationship

Sandeep Dikshit

NEW DELHI: Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe arrived here on Tuesday to seek a concrete road map for implementing a strategic relationship between the two countries amidst indications that it would be challenging for Tokyo to support an exemption in the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) with New Delhi not having signed the nuclear non-proliferation treaty (NPT).

“Mr. Abe wants to discuss how the two countries should proceed forward to implement the strategic partnership. He wants frank discussions. That is his biggest objective,” said a senior Japanese Government official. Foremost among issues to further strategic ties would be a broad concurrence on the role both countries should play in Asia, economic interchange and cooperation in science and technology. The Japanese Defence Minister arrives on the concluding day of Mr. Abe’s visit to pick up the security related threads of the bilateral relationship.

On the Indo-U.S. nuclear deal, Japan would take a positive approach but pointed out that Parliamentary [Diet] approval was required for a bilateral agreement with India stipulating provisions on utilising nuclear technology and preventing the possibility for its diversion.

“That does not mean we have doubts. But from the perspective of national sentiments in Japan, any cooperation with a nuclear weapons country or which has conducted a nuclear test would be on a different note. We want to start a debate in Japan from a neutral perspective taking into account the need for India to move forward in nuclear energy, the importance of Indo-Japan bilateral relations and environment protection [from use of nuclear energy].”

“Therefore it is extra important to see how we can strike a balance between the need for India to acquire civil nuclear technology and the fact that the people of Japan are very sensitive and enthusiastic about nuclear non-proliferation. We want to participate positively in discussions at NSG and we hope that India will be forthcoming in providing real information in terms of transparency during negotiations with the International Atomic Energy Agency and the NSG.”

Interestingly the accompanying business delegation has senior executives from companies with expertise in the nuclear energy arena such as Mitsubishi, Hitachi and Toshiba. In fact, the official pointed out that while U.S. nuclear energy companies had limited experience while Japnese companies could provide “cutting edge” technology.

On the economic side, Mr. Abe is bringing the biggest-ever business delegation to accompany him on an overseas tour. Besides the team scouting for business opportunities, Mr. Abe will discuss the various forms of India’s participation in the East Asian Summit initiative and the Association of South East Asian Nations on one hand, and seek quick conclusion of the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement on the other in which it wants India to prune the negative list of items that do not qualify for special tariff concessions.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

National