Japan N-deal on fast track as PM holds Tokyo talks

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India moved swiftly to quell any misinterpretation that the Indo-Japan civilian nuclear agreement had been put on the backburner after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, in answer to a question from a prominent Japanese businessman, had earlier on Monday seemed to signal that he would not push the pace for a conclusion of that agreement.

Instead, after back-to-back engagements which saw Dr Singh interact with the Japanese business community as well as the entire gamut of the Japanese political leadership, the joint declaration released at the conclusion of talks between the two leaders clearly set out a timeframe for the next round of discussions on the civilian nuclear agreement.
“The two Prime Ministers reaffirmed that cooperation in this sector will open up new opportunities for further developing the India-Japan strategic and global
partnership. They encouraged their negotiators to arrive at a mutually satisfactory agreement for civil nuclear cooperation at an early date.”
Foreign secretary Nirupama Rao also clarified that after two rounds of “very successful talks”, the dates for the next round had now been set for the third week of November. “There is a zest and a momentum on both sides, it has not slowed down, it has not been derailed. Negotiations are delicate and complex. But the political resolve has been very clearly enunciated by both nations,” she said.
Dr Singh, while addressing Nippon Keidanren, signalled to the Japanese chamber of commerce and industry, which has been eager to invest in energy-starved India but is being held back by a government in Tokyo wary of the domestic reaction, indicated that the onus to push this forward rested with Japan. He said: “I hope Japan will participate in the Indian civil nuclear industry for peaceful purposes. But I recognise the sensitivities of Japan, and I will not push the issue.”
Sources also said that in a marked departure from its insistence in the past that India must sign the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty before talks can move forward — an enunciation of which continues to find a mention in the joint statement — Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan told Dr Singh that his nation “fully trusts India’s commitment on holding to its moratorium on testing nuclear weapons.”
India has repeatedly held to its position, reiterated in the joint declaration, that it is committed to a “unilateral and voluntary moratorium on nuclear explosive testing.”