Japan seeks India's cooperation against piracy, terrorism

TOKYO: India today hoped that its strategic partnership with Japan would deepen further to build an edifice for peace and stability in Asia, as Tokyo sought expansion of areas of bilateral cooperation to deal with the growing menace of piracy and terrorism.

Th two sides exchanged their views on these issues during a meeting between visiting Minister of State for Planning, Science and Technology and Earth Sciences Ashwani Kumar and Japanese Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba here.

During the meeting, Kumar expressed sympathies on behalf of the people of India for the Fukushima nuclear disaster of March this year following a massive earthquake and tsunami and voiced the country's solidarity with Japan.

He expressed the hope that India and Japan would together deepen their strategic partnership so as to build an edifice for peace and stability in Asia, an official statement said.

Kumar informed the Japanese side that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has ordered a comprehensive reinforcement of safety measures in India's nuclear power plants and added that India is prepared to move in this regard consistent with Japan's policies.

On his part, Gemba said the two countries should enlarge the areas of cooperation and together secure the safety of the sea lanes against piracy and terrorism so as to ensure maritime security and the security of energy supplies of both India and Japan.

He also stated that Japan supports the call for reform of the UN and multilateral institutions to reflect the new realities.