Japan on Thursday made it clear that there were outstanding issues which need to be addressed before a bilateral civil nuclear pact with India could be inked.
Japanese Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Toshimitsu Motegi said after seventh India- Japan Energy Dialogue here that there were several outstanding issues, and added that they would be discussed in working groups with the objective of accelerating efforts.
Motegi, who was addressing a joint press conference with Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia, however, did not elaborate on specific outstanding issues, saying the working group was still discussing these.
"This is an important issue and there are various difficulties that still exist. This issue is still being discussed between working group. So, I think that it would not be wise for me to specify what outstanding issues exist," Motegi said.
"Because this would be misleading, and therefore, I will like to refrain from making any specific comments about that," he added.
Montek Singh Ahluwalia said this is a very important area of our cooperation, but we are not fixing any deadline.
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"We are making progress and let's see how it goes. It is very complex set of issues that we have to address," Ahluwalia added.
Motegi also said efforts were on to conclude negotiations 'as soon as possible'.
The remarks come barely days after the two countries resumed their negotiations on the civil nuclear pact earlier this month in Tokyo after a gap of three years.
Launched in 2010, the nuclear-energy negotiations were on hold since the Fukushima nuclear accident in March 2011. The last round was held in November 2010.
During the dialogue, both sides recognized that it was important to hold the India-Japan Energy Dialogues annually, and that the issues of energy security and global environment are high priority challenges requiring continuous and effective action.
"In particular, to overcome challenges such as the global-scale changes in the energy demand structure seen in recent years and soaring energy prices, both sides confirmed to strengthen consumer-producer dialogue on LNG and deepen cooperation in energy conservation and renewable energy sectors," the joint statement issued after the meeting said.
In addition, both sides decided to strengthen programs to further disseminate and expand model business projects that have thus far been implemented by both sides, and to enhance cooperation in upstream development of petroleum and natural gas.