New Delhi
29 December 2009
India became only the third country after the US and Australia to have a "two-
plus-two" dialogue with Japan, involving their respective foreign and defence ministries.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his visiting Japanese counterpart Yukio Hatoyama
endorsed the new dialogue mechanism as part of an "action plan to advance security
cooperation" here Tuesday.
Hatoyama pushed for India's inclusion in a proposed East Asian Community along the
lines of the European Union, but he remained noncommittal on nuclear commerce with
India. However, he left the door open for talks following reiteration by Prime Minister
Singh that India will not divert imports for weapons purposes or to a third country.
Both sides shared the view of eliminating nuclear weapons globally but discussions on
issues such as CTBT (Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty) and NPT (Nuclear Non-
Proliferation Treaty) were marked by a divergence of opinion. While Japan kept up the
pressure on India to sign and ratify the CTBT, New Delhi maintained it will decide only
after the US and China have clarified their positions on the issue.
The action plan, which institutionalises the bilateral security and defence consultations
at all levels, complements the annual summits in vogue since 2006 between the two
prime ministers. The new strategic cooperation mechanisms include annual strategic
dialogue at foreign minister-level, regular meetings between the ministers of defence
and between national security adviser of India and his Japanese counterpart, multilateral
exercises, maritime security dialogue and cooperation, counter-terrorism and
intelligence sharing.
Mr Hatoyama said that civil nuclear energy would be an "important agenda for future"
and he expected a positive conclusion of the negotiations for starting high-technology
trade. He recognised that there were differences on NPT, but he hoped India would sign
and ratify the CTBT at an early date. There is a "rising momentum" globally for an early
entry into force of the CTBT, he said, adding that negotiations for Fissile Material Cut-off
Treaty (FMCT) should be launched as soon as possible. "Japan and India should
cooperate for its early conclusion," he said, adding that the suggestion was welcomed
by Dr Singh.
For his part, Dr Singh conveyed to the Japanese side that "should the US and China
ratify the CTBT, a new situation will emerge." (The US and China signed the CTBT in
1996 but have not ratified it.) He iterated India's commitment to a unilateral, voluntary
moratorium on nuclear explosive testing and restated his government's resolve to
pursue a universal, verifiable and non-discriminatory agreement on nuclear
disarmament.
India is keen to enter into a civil nuclear cooperation arrangement with Japan but the
Japanese Government is still to allow its companies to do business in nuclear materials
and technologies with India. Companies such as GE-Hitachi and Toshiba-Westinghouse
are among those who have shown an interest in doing business with India. Kazuo
Kodama, press secretary with the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said that Japan
has a "foreign user" list, similar to the entities list of the US, which prohibits the sale of
dual-use technologies and materials without proper export controls. He also said that the
Japanese export control authority would look into the matter and decide.
A joint statement issued after the talks said that the two Prime Ministers shared the view
that nuclear energy can play an important role as a safe, sustainable and non-polluting
source of energy in meeting the rising global energy demands. Recognising the role of
technology cooperation in the bilateral partnership, they took note of the progress made
by the bilateral consultative mechanism on high technology trade, and decided to step
up efforts to facilitate such trade by addressing respective concerns, including export
controls. The bilateral consultative mechanism on high-technology trade has met four
times.
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