Appreciating India's track record on non-proliferation front, Japan Saturday expressed keenness to conclude the civil nuclear agreement with it at the earliest but made it clear that such a cooperation would be suspended if New Delhi were to conduct an atomic test.
With one round of negotiations on the nuclear cooperation already having been concluded, Indian External Affairs Minister S M Krishna and his Japanese counterpart Katsuya Okada discussed the issue and agreed that discussions needed to be pushed forward but set no timelines.
The two sides also decided to push their trade ties by concluding an Economic Partnership Agreement before Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to Tokyo in October with the Japanese side saying there is scope for 10-fold increase in commerce which was to the tune of USD 12 billion in 2008-09.
At the fourth round of Strategic Dialogue, the two countries also agreed to push efforts for UN reforms under the format of G-4 grouping and
in this regard decided to reach out to 53-nation African continent whose support is vital.
Okada, who met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh earlier in the day, said he had flagged the need for having civil nuclear cooperation, pushing
economic ties and stepping up efforts for UN reforms.
After the Strategic Dialogue meeting, Krishna told a joint press conference with Okada that, "We agreed that the negotiations will continue quickly and that we will jointly work towards a good agreement which will result in a win-win situation for both India and Japan."
He said the two countries did "not intend to set a time-line for the conclusion of such an agreement."
Okada also said the two sides intended to conclude the agreement as soon as possible but no timelines had been fixed.
The negotiations for the nuclear agreement were initiated in June when one round of talks was held in Tokyo.
Okada said the decision to launch negotiations for civil nuclear cooperation agreement with India, which had not signed NPT, was "possibly the toughest decision that I have taken as Foreign Minister" in his 10-month tenure.
At the meeting, he said he had expressed "appreciation for efforts" made by India in the field of nuclear non-proliferation.
However, he noted that Japan was the only country to have suffered a nuclear attack and the "philosophy of non-proliferation" would have to
reflect in the Agreement.
Okada said that while engaging India, Japan would not be able to run contrary to its policy on non-proliferation.
"I don't think we can suggest that India should refrain from conducting a nuclear test but if such a thing were to happen, Japan will
have no option but to suspend cooperation," he said, adding this would have to be "built-in" in the agreement through proper "wording" and
"terminology".
The Japanese Foreign Minister said he had conveyed to Krishna that his country attaches importance to India's efforts on Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) and Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty (FMCT).
India has maintained that it would be ready to work with the international community for bringing CTBT and FMCT into effect.
Okada said the two sides also discussed ways to boost trade and exchanged views on Afghanistan, Pakistan and North Korea among other issues.
He said the economic relations between the two countries had deepened and expanded over the years but were "still far short of potential."
He underlined the need for doubling efforts to realise the real potential in trade, which he said could go up by 10 times from the present
level.
The Economic Partnership Agreement, negotiations for which are underway, would help in this regard, he said.
The Japanese Foreign Minister said "some problems" remained but negotiations were proceeding and hoped these would be concluded before Singh's visit to Tokyo for annual Summit talks in October as the decision would ultimately be a political one.
Okada said the Japanese Cabinet had discussed the issue yesterday and after his return, he would apprise the Cabinet about his discussions with the Indian side.
He proposed setting up of Finance Ministers' dialogue on the pattern of the one Japan has with China and said India would be considering it. He suggested that the business chambers could also be associated with it.
Krishna said he had thanked the Japanese government for removing 11 Indian entities from their End-User List which would provide a boost to
hi-technology trade between the two countries.
He said he also thanked Japan for its continuing Official Development Assistance as well as their support to India's flagship infrastructure projects like Dedicated Freight Corridor, the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor and the establishment of IIT-Hyderabad.
Okada said his country would continue to support these projects.
The two sides exchanged views on the evolving regional architecture in Asia and in this connection welcomed the decision of ASEAN Foreign Ministers to include the US and Russia in the East Asia Summit, Krishna said.
The two leaders also agreed to enhance consultations within G-4 (which also includes Germany and Brazil) process for reform of the UN, including its Security Council. All the G-4 nations are aspirants for permanent
membership of an expanded Security Council.
Okada proposed that the Foreign Ministers of the G-4 countries should meet in New York next month on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly,
which was accepted by Krishna.