- Title: Japan to supply India with nuclear power equipment, technology
- Date: 11th November 2016
- Summary: TOKYO, JAPAN (NOVEMBER 11, 2016) (REUTERS) MODI AND ABE SEATED AT TABLE TO SIGN AGREEMENT / MEDIA SEATED MODI AND ABE HANDED BOOKLET EACH MODI SIGNING AGREEMENT ABE SIGNING AGREEMENT VARIOUS OF MODI AND ABE EXCHANGING SIGNED AGREEMENTS AND SHAKING HANDS JOURNALISTS MODI AND ABE STANDING AT PODIUMS FOR JOINT ANNOUNCEMENT (SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) JAPANESE PRIME MINISTER, SHINZO ABE, SAYING: "The agreement is a legal framework to ensure that India will act responsibly for the peaceful uses of the nuclear energy. It will also lead India to substantially participate in the international non-proliferation alliance even though India is not a participant of the NPT." BRIEFING IN PROGRESS (SOUNDBITE) (English) INDIAN PRIME MINISTER, NARENDRA MODI, SAYING: "Our cooperation in this field will help us combat the challenge of climate change. I also acknowledge the special significance that such an agreement has for Japan." MODI AND ABE SHAKING HANDS
- Embargoed: 26th November 2016 13:32
- Keywords: Japan India supply nuclear power technology deal
- Location: TOKYO, JAPAN
- City: TOKYO, JAPAN
- Country: Japan
- Topics: Government/Politics,International Trade
- Reuters ID: LVA0025801PON
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Japan and India signed a civilian nuclear accord on Friday (November 11), opening the door for Tokyo to supply New Delhi with fuel, equipment and technology for nuclear power production, as India looks to atomic energy to sustain its rapid economic growth.
Visiting Prime Minister Narendra Modi held bilateral talks with his counterpart Prime Minister Shinzo Abe where they sealed the nuclear deal among other agenda to boost the mutual economic ties.
It was the first time Japan, the only country to have suffered a nuclear attack, has concluded such a pact with a country that is not signatory to the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT).
The accord stipulates nuclear fuel and equipment provided can only be used for peaceful purposes, and a separate document signed alongside the nuclear agreement has a clause allowing Japan to terminate the pact if India conducts a nuclear test.
"The agreement is a legal framework to ensure that India will act responsibly for the peaceful uses of the nuclear energy. It will also lead India to substantially participate in the international non-proliferation alliance even though India is not a participant of the NPT," Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said in a joint announcement with Narendra Modi after signing the pact.
India says the NPT is discriminatory and it has concerns about nuclear-armed China as well as its long-time nuclear-armed rival, Pakistan.
India is in advanced negotiations with U.S.-based Westinghouse Electric, owned by Japan's Toshiba Corp, to build six nuclear reactors in southern India, part of New Delhi's plan to ramp up nuclear capacity more than ten times by 2032.
For Japanese nuclear plant makers such as Toshiba and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd, it is crucial to expand their business overseas as the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster stifled domestic demand for new nuclear plants.
"Our cooperation in this field will help us combat the challenge of climate change. I also acknowledge the special significance that such an agreement has for Japan," said Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The nuclear agreement with Japan follows a similar one with the United States in 2008 which gave India access to nuclear technology after decades of isolation.
That step was seen as the first big move to build India into a regional counterweight to China.
Earlier on Friday (November 11), Modi praised the "growing convergence" of views between his nation and Japan, saying strong ties will enable them to play a stabilising role in Asia and the world.
Modi, on his three-day visit to Japan, will head to western Japan on Saturday (November 12) to inspect Japan's high-tech railway technology at Kawasaki Heavy Industry's factory. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2016. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
