I
48
ndia and Japan, finally, signed
an agreement for cooperation
in the peaceful uses of nucle-
ar energy. Both countries undertook
several rounds of negotiations, which
helped resolve several sticky issues. guidelines of the Nuclear Suppliers
Group (NSG) in 2008 and the CTBT
is in a coma. There is no question of
diversion of any item supplied for
peaceful purposes to a military pro-
gram.
The joint document signed by the
two countries lays down a roadmap
for bilateral cooperation in the field
of nuclear energy. This would provide
for the development of nuclear power
projects in India and thus strengthen
of energy security of the country. The point that Japan, itself being a
victim of a nuclear attack, would find
it difficult to sign a peaceful nuclear
program was intriguing.
The present agreement would
open up the door for collaboration
between Indian and Japanese indus-
tries in our Civil Nuclear program.
Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT)
and the Comprehensive Test Ban
Treaty (CTBT), will undermine the
nuclear regime. The reality is that In-
dia received a clean exemption in the
Japan, a coun-
try with advanced tech-
nology but declining pop-
ulation, may provide both
a base and an opportuni-
ty for the Indian scientific
force
Other than the ethical and
non-proliferation concerns, there
were some practical commercial con-
cerns of the Japanese nuclear indus-
try, a major driver for the India-Japan
nuclear deal. As the Indian nuclear
establishment was basically interested
in Japanese technology, not in its re-
actors, Japanese industry did not find
it commercially lucrative to enter into
the Indian nuclear market.
Now, it will have to partner with
one of the Indian operators like the
Nuclear Power Corporation India
Limited. A Japanese company, how-
ever, will still have less than 50 per-
cent ownership in a nuclear venture.
India has completely harmonized
its export control system along the
NSG guidelines and annexes. In-
dia-US 123 agreements for civil nu-
clear energy were compressed for
the India-Japan deal. The agreement