Japan wants India to incorporate then foreign minister Pranab Mukherjee's statement before Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) in 2008, which paved the way for New Delhi to carry out nuclear commerce, in the bilateral agreement for civil nuclear agreement under discussion.
The two countries on Tuesday resumed the fourth round of negotiations for the agreement in Tokyo after three years. The talks had remained suspended since the Fukushima accident in March, 2011. Sources said that progress was made in the talks despite the sticking points and that the two sides have agreed to have the fifth round of dialogue within three months.
The Indian side though told Japan that there is no need to make Mukherjee's speech — already made at an international forum — on how India planned to strengthen the non-proliferation regime a part of any bilateral agreement. Indian officials said other significant countries with which India has such deals like the US, Russia and France too chose to go by what was expressed at the NSG by India and did not insist on incorporating it in the bilateral agreements.
The commitments made by India were part of the statement by Mukherjee on September 5, 2008, which convinced the hold-out countries to give in to the proposal to allow India to indulge in nuclear commerce despite not having signed NPT. Mukherjee had said in the statement that India remained committed to a voluntary and unilateral moratorium on nuclear testing and to negotiating a Fissile Material Cutoff Treaty (FMCT). It also spoke about constantly updating its export control system to highest international standards and about working to strengthen the global non-proliferation regime.
Japan also wants a clause in the agreement that will allow it to call off all civil nuclear cooperation the moment India conducts a nuclear test. New Delhi insists that its commitment before NSG to a "voluntary and unilateral moratorium on nuclear testing'' is enough. While Japan is not insisting that India sign CTBT, it wants New Delhi to commit to a test ban in the bilateral agreement.
The third and last sticking point for the agreement is proving to be India's insistence on reprocessing rights. Sources said that like in the case civil nuclear agreements with other countries, India would like its agreement with Japan, too, to cover reprocessing rights for spent fuel.
During their meeting earlier this year, PM Manmohan Singh and his counterpart Shinzo Abe reaffirmed the importance of civil nuclear cooperation between the two countries, recognizing that nuclear safety is a priority for both governments. Japan agreed to resume negotiations without any preconditions.
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