Japan and India sign nuclear collaboration deal

Asia-Pacific, News November 11, 2016 , by IRIA No Comments

Japan and India signed a controversial civil nuclear to export atomic technology to South Asian state. Japan can terminate the pact if India conducts a nuclear test.

Japan and India have signed a civilian nuclear cooperation pact, allowing the East Asian country to supply its advanced nuclear technology to its South Asian ally.

By signing an agreement with Japan, India will get access to supply fuel, equipment and technology required for its rapidly growing population.

The accord is strictly for peaceful purposes and Japan can break it if India conducts another nuclear weapons test. The last Indian test was in 1998.

The basis of the treaty was agreed on last December, before his three-day visit to Japan.

After a meeting in Tokyo between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, the two sides said they agreed on exporting Japanese nuclear and high-speed-rail technology to India, accelerating discussion about a sale of Japanese amphibious rescue aircraft to the Indian Navy and building training programs for 30,000 Indians over the next 10 years.

The civil nuclear agreement “marks a historic depth in our engagement,” Mr. Modi said in a joint press appearance with Mr. Abe.

This marks the first time that Japan has agreed to contribute to the nuclear energy industry of any country that has not signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). The treaty’s objective is to promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy while stemming the production of nuclear arms.

“Today’s signing of the agreement for cooperation in peaceful use of nuclear energy marks a historic step in our engagement to build a clean energy partnership,” Modi said.

Besides the US and Japan, India also has similar deals with France and Australia.

Japan has treaties of this type with 13 countries, including the United States, France and Russia, but this is the first with a nation that is not part of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.

To hold India accountable, the Japan-India treaty says Tokyo can notify New Delhi of the termination of the pact with one year’s notice. A separate memorandum specifies that Japan can suspend cooperation if India breaches its no-testing pledge to the NSG.

“The agreement is a legal framework to ensure that India will act responsibly for the peace of use of nuclear energy. It will also prompt India to participate in the nonproliferation regime even though India is not a participant of NPT,” Abe said at the joint news conference. “This is exactly in line with Japan’s position of promoting a world without nuclear weapons.”