Japan concerned by US nuclear cooperation with India with fear that Iran and North Korea will pull out from Nuclear Proliferation Treaty
Arun Rana
Oct. 22, 2005

Japanese concerns does not deter America from finding a responsible nuclear state in India.

Japan expressed concern to the United States last month over an agreement Washington reached with New Delhi to help promote civilian nuclear power in India, Japanese government sources said.

At bilateral talks on disarmament and nonproliferation in Washington in September, Japanese officials told the United States that offering nuclear technical assistance to India, which is not a party to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, could "send the wrong message to North Korea and Iran", the sources said.

Japanese officials told their US counterparts that the move could "adversely affect the NPT framework", apparently in view of nuclear-related problems involving countries such as North Korea and Iran.

North Korea has pulled out from the NPT and claims to have developed nuclear weapons, while Iran is suspected of trying to make a nuclear arsenal although it remains under the treaty.

US President George W. Bush and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh agreed in Washington in July that the United States will work to achieve full civil nuclear energy cooperation with India.

During last month's talks with Japan, the United States dismissed the Japanese concern, saying the accord does not mean the United States has recognized India as a nuclear power under the NPT, the sources said.

The US officials asserted India should be drawn into the mainstream of the nuclear nonproliferation framework as it actually possesses a nuclear arsenal and defended the agreement, saying India is the world's largest democracy and is not involved in the nuclear black market, the sources said.

India, which conducted nuclear tests in 1998, has refrained from joining the NPT, saying the treaty is unfair as it grants only five countries, including the United States, the right to possess nuclear weapons.

Due to this situation, the United States had provided no nuclear-related technology to India.

Following the US shift in position towards India, British Prime Minister Tony Blair offered nuclear technology cooperation for civilian use during a meeting with Singh last month.

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