India briefs Japan on US nuclear deal

TOKYO: India on Tuesday briefed Japanese leaders on its landmark nuclear cooperation deal with the United States, as Tokyo remained non-committal on whether it would support the controversial pact.

The deal, which would bring India out of decades in the nuclear wilderness, needs the support of the US and Indian legislatures and also the 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group, of which Japan is a leading member. Indian National Security Adviser M.K. Narayanan met Tuesday with Foreign Minister Taro Aso. He also paid a courtesy call Monday to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to prepare for his visit to India this month.

Narayanan told Aso about the details of the US-India pact after the text was released last week, Japanese foreign ministry official Naoshige Aoshima said. India still needs to iron out details with the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), to ensure spent fuel is not reprocessed for weapons purposes.

"Japan has no stance on this issue at this moment until it obtains full information on the agreement and until India finishes talks with the IAEA," Aoshima said. Japan, the only nation to have been attacked by atomic weapons, has been working to build closer ties with India but has longstanding concerns about its nuclear programme.

New Delhi declared itself a nuclear power in 1998 and refuses to sign the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which has also led to opposition to the deal among some US lawmakers.

The accord allows US exports of civilian nuclear fuel and technology to India for the first time in 30 years and is the centrepiece of India's warming relations with the United States.