Former Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama announced Monday that India and Japan were close to agreeing on a civil nuclear cooperation deal pledging Japanese help developing India’s civil nuclear power system, according to reports.
“India and Japan have come to a stage of concluding the nuclear cooperation agreement…we can help India set up nuclear plants to meet its growing demand for energy,” Mr. Hatoyama was quoted as saying by Indian newspaper The Hindu.
Hatoyama was visiting India for talks on bilateral trade and mutual investment and to set the groundwork for the India-Japan Global Partnership Summit 2011, scheduled to be held from Sept. 5 to 7 in Tokyo, which will cover a wide range of bilateral issues.
Hatoyama also met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during his visit and said that he hoped India would uphold its unilateral moratorium on nuclear tests. He said Japan considers the moratorium particularly important given that the East Asian country is the only nation to have suffered a nuclear attack.
Negotiations for the nuclear agreement were launched June 28 when officials from Japan and India met for the first round of talks in Tokyo. The agreement will enable Japanese companies such as Mitsubishi, Hitachi and Toshiba, which all possess advanced civil nuclear energy technologies, to set up projects in India where the nuclear energy market is pegged at $150 billion. Japan currently meets 30 per cent of its energy requirements from nuclear plants – a figure expected to increase to at least 40 percent by 2017.
The India-Japan summit is being organized by the India Centre Foundation, Hatoyama said, adding that it would provide much-needed impetus for cooperation between the two nations in various other fields.
“Japan is committed to India's growth and development…the proof of it is the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor being developed out of financial assistance from Japan. We need to forge similar collaborations,” he said.
The India Centre Foundation has the support of both Hatoyama and Indian Adviser to the Prime Minister on Technology Sam Pitroda, The Hindu reported.
Hatoyama, who serves on the Foundation's Advisory Board, stressed the need to take bilateral relations beyond official engagements and enlarge them by bringing the two societies closer.
The summit was aimed at enhancing ties in various fields, Hatoyama said.
“India and Japan have come to a stage of concluding the nuclear cooperation agreement…we can help India set up nuclear plants to meet its growing demand for energy,” Mr. Hatoyama was quoted as saying by Indian newspaper The Hindu.
Hatoyama was visiting India for talks on bilateral trade and mutual investment and to set the groundwork for the India-Japan Global Partnership Summit 2011, scheduled to be held from Sept. 5 to 7 in Tokyo, which will cover a wide range of bilateral issues.
Hatoyama also met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during his visit and said that he hoped India would uphold its unilateral moratorium on nuclear tests. He said Japan considers the moratorium particularly important given that the East Asian country is the only nation to have suffered a nuclear attack.
Negotiations for the nuclear agreement were launched June 28 when officials from Japan and India met for the first round of talks in Tokyo. The agreement will enable Japanese companies such as Mitsubishi, Hitachi and Toshiba, which all possess advanced civil nuclear energy technologies, to set up projects in India where the nuclear energy market is pegged at $150 billion. Japan currently meets 30 per cent of its energy requirements from nuclear plants – a figure expected to increase to at least 40 percent by 2017.
The India-Japan summit is being organized by the India Centre Foundation, Hatoyama said, adding that it would provide much-needed impetus for cooperation between the two nations in various other fields.
“Japan is committed to India's growth and development…the proof of it is the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor being developed out of financial assistance from Japan. We need to forge similar collaborations,” he said.
The India Centre Foundation has the support of both Hatoyama and Indian Adviser to the Prime Minister on Technology Sam Pitroda, The Hindu reported.
Hatoyama, who serves on the Foundation's Advisory Board, stressed the need to take bilateral relations beyond official engagements and enlarge them by bringing the two societies closer.
The summit was aimed at enhancing ties in various fields, Hatoyama said.
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