Nuclear pact with India

November 1, 2016

Japan to sign nuclear pact with India

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20161101_03/

Japan will sign an agreement on nuclear energy technology with India during a visit by Prime Minister Narendra Modi scheduled to start on November 10th.

The agreement will be Japan's first such deal with a non-signatory of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. It will allow Japan to export nuclear power technology to India.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe met with Modi in India last December and they came to a basic agreement regarding the deal.

The two governments have been negotiating the details of the agreement and the date of the signing.

There is concern in Japan about forming a deal with India, which has conducted nuclear tests.

The pact is expected to include a provision that prohibits the technology from being used for military purposes. If India conducts further nuclear tests, the deal would likely be suspended.

Japan has similar deals with 14 countries and territories.

Japan, India to sign energy pact on condition of no nuclear tests

THE ASAHI SHIMBUN

http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201611010047.html

Japan and India will sign a nuclear energy pact in mid-November that allows Tokyo to opt out if the South Asian nation tests its nuclear weapons, sources said.

The agreement, the first by Japan with a nation that has not ratified the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, will be signed when Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits Japan later this month, a high-ranking Foreign Ministry official said.

The agreement will enable Japan to export its nuclear energy technology for private-sector use in India. But the sources said wording in the pact will give Japan, which has long pushed for nuclear disarmament and nonproliferation, the option of ending cooperation if India conducts a nuclear test.

At a meeting in New Delhi in December 2015, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Modi agreed in principle to sign a nuclear energy agreement. However, Abe told his Indian counterpart, “We will discontinue cooperation should India conduct a nuclear test.”

Diplomats of the two nations have since held discussions on the agreement.

Japanese diplomats asked for wording that could be interpreted to mean Japan can cease cooperation in the event of an Indian nuclear test after the bilateral agreement takes effect.

Although Indian officials were hesitant about such wording because of concerns it could constrain India’s national security policy, they also showed an understanding toward the Japanese position.

The two nations are currently hammering out the final wording of the agreement. There is a possibility that the terminology will be vague enough to allow both nations to interpret the agreement in a way that is closer to their own national interests.