Strong India, strong Japan will not only enrich our two nations. It will also be a stabilising factor in Asia and the world
The two countries signed the pact after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi held talks in Tokyo. India has not joined the NPT regime that is designed to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons.
Some civil groups in Japan oppose the pact, saying that it goes against nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament goals that Japan pursues as the sole victim of a nuclear attack. They are also concerned about the safety of nuclear power generation in the wake of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant disaster in March 2011.
As a way to make sure that the nuclear cooperation will not be diverted to military use, the deal includes a separate document that allows Japan to halt its nuclear cooperation if India breaches its commitment made in September 2008 to a “moratorium on nuclear testing.”
India tested nuclear explosive devices in the 1970s and 1990s.
Japanese officials stress that the nuclear pact ensures India’s peaceful use of nuclear energy. The government is set to seek approval for the treaty at the Diet session next year.
The signing comes as India, whose economy grew 7.6 per cent in 2015, hopes for Japan’s help to meet the increasing need for stable power supply. India aims to increase the proportion of nuclear power generated electricity to 25 per cent of the total by 2050, from 2 per cent now.
Japan, looking to tap into the Indian market with its population of 1.2 billion, is promoting exports of infrastructure products, including nuclear plants, as part of its growth strategy.