NSG talks: Japan hints at helping India

Japan has indicated that it would play a "positive role" at the 45-country Nuclear Suppliers' Group (NSG) to help India's case in accessing crucial supplies for its nuclear power plants, said a senior official from the Prime Minister's Office at a media briefing on the visit of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who is in India on a two-day visit.

Confirming this, an Abe spokesman said, "Japan understands the importance of nuclear energy for India and also India's deep interest in securing fuel supplies for its plants."

Negotiations with the NSG, a multinational body that controls the export and re-transfer of nuclear material for nuclear technology, are crucial step towards implementing the Indo-US civil nuclear deal, to which the Left parties and the opposition National Democratic Alliance have objected.

Japan plays a critical and influential role in the NSG, whose mandate also extends to controlling nuclear weapons proliferation, principally because it is the only country against which a nuclear bomb has been used in war in Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.

Japan is also equipped with cutting-edge technology to install the next generation of nuclear plants.

India's case is unique in that it is seeking NSG approval though it possesses nuclear weapons and has not signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Abe's spokesman added that Japan also realises India's access to nuclear fuel was important for arresting global climate change. Abe is known to be a keen advocate against global warming.

Claiming that Abe's government would have to do a fine balancing between anti-nuclear sentiments at home and supporting India's case at the NSG, the PMO spokesman said, "Japan would also like to see India forthcoming with information to ensure transparency in its deals at the NSG and also with the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Association)."

The IAEA is the international safeguards agency against nuclear weapons proliferation.