After battling one of the worst nuclear disasters in March this year, Japan today offered to cooperate with India on improving the safety of atomic reactors.
Following the radiation leakage at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power plant in the north-eastern part of the country after the tsunami-earthquake of early March, Japan is re-looking at its energy policy, Japan's Deputy Minister (Economy), Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Shinichi Nishimiya said here.
He said 'safe' nuclear power, clean fossil fuel, renewables and energy conservation would be the hallmarks of the Japanese new policy.
"In all four sectors, there is scope for bilateral cooperation between our two countries," he told reporters on the sidelines of a Ficci function.
Allaying concerns over safety, the Japanese Minister said it is quite safe for businessmen and tourists to visit his country, as Japan is free from any radiation threats.
"There is misunderstanding about radiation contamination. The government is constantly monitoring the situation and Japan remains open for business and travel," he said.
Offering Japan's disaster management technology to India and other countries, Nishimiya cited the example of how the services of high-speed trains remained unaffected in the Fukushima region hit by the earthquake.
"All (27) trains were at speeds above 300 km per hour, but stopped automatically. Such type of disaster resistance technology is something which we are keen to share," the minister said.
He said despite the setback to the Japanese economy, it would continue with its aid programme for India through the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
The Japanese are extending soft loans for the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor and metro projects in Delhi and Bangalore.
Just yesterday, Japan had signed seven agreements worth a total of Rs 8,200 crore, which will be provided as loans for various projects.
Nishimiya said despite the earthquake-tsunami-nuclear radiation leakage, Japan expects bilateral trade with India to accelerate.
He also said that Japan will consider incentives to encourage Bollywood filmmakers to look at the East Asian country as a destination for shooting as a means of attracting tourist inflows from India.
"We have signed Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) last year, which eases all kinds of economic activities. So I expect there will be accelerated expansion between the two countries," he said.
Nishimiya, however, refused to quote any figure regarding the trade prospects. In 2010, Indo-Japanese bilateral trade had gone up to $12.9 billion from $9.3 billion in the previous year.