India first non-NPT nation to sign nuclear deal with Japan: Report

[Hindustani78]

Last Updated: Sunday, November 6, 2016 - 19:04
http://zeenews.india.com/news/india...n-nuclear-deal-with-japan-report_1946861.html

New Delhi: India, which has not signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), will become the first such nation, to ink a civil nuclear deal with Japan, a media report said on Sunday.

TOI reported that as part of the deal both sides would stop their civil nuclear cooperation if India conducts a nuclear test.

India is expected to sign the deal with Japan when Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrives in Tokyo for a three-day visit next week.

The agreement will allow Japan to export nuclear power plants to India.

Citing experts, the report said Japan changed its stand on nuclear cooperation in view of China's growing military presence in the region, particularly in the disputed South China Sea.

"...if one considers the matter carefully, it becomes clear that civil nuclear cooperation between Japan and India will have virtually no negative impact on the non-proliferation regime," the report quoted researcher Satoru Nagao of Tokyo Foundation as saying in an article.

"India has demonstrated a firm commitment to non-proliferation principle in practice. It clearly differs from countries like North Korea, Pakistan, and Iran, which have conducted shady dealings on the 'nuclear black market'.

“If India continues to control its nuclear technology as carefully as it has for the past half-century, cooperation on the use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes should not undermine the NPT regime," Nagao wrote.

So far, 11 countries, including US, Russia, Britain, France, Australia, have signed civil nuclear cooperation agreements with India.


First Published: Sunday, November 6, 2016 - 16:57

 

[Hindustani78]

India and Japan are set to sign a historic civil nuclear cooperation deal during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s two-day visit to Tokyo this week, a move that will boost bilateral economic and security ties and facilitate leading U.S.-based players to set up atomic plants in India.

The two countries had reached a broad agreement for cooperation in civil nuclear energy sector during Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s visit to India in December last year, but the deal is yet to be signed as some issues are yet to be worked out.

Mr. Modi and Mr. Abe are set to sign the deal on Novermber 11, 2016, Japanese Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper reported on Sunday.

The deal would allow Japan to export nuclear technology to India, making it the first non-NPT (Non-Proliferation Treaty) signatory to have such a deal with Tokyo. It would also cement the bilateral economic and security ties as the two countries warm up to counter an assertive China.

There was political resistance in Japan — the only country to suffer atomic bombings during World War II — against a nuclear deal with India, particularly after the disaster at the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant in 2011.

Japan is a major player in the nuclear energy market and an atomic deal with it will make it easier for U.S.-based nuclear plant makers Westinghouse Electric Corporation and GE Energy Inc. to set up atomic plants in India as both these conglomerates have Japanese investments.

According to the report, India and Japan are also likely to agree that if New Delhi conducts a nuclear test, the bilateral cooperation will stop.

A delegation of Japanese parliamentarians had called on Mr. Modi on November 3, 2016, in New Delhi ahead of his visit commencing on November 11. On Thursday, Mr. Modi also pitched for strengthening bilateral cooperation in the field of disaster management and risk reduction.

 

[Hindustani78]

Tokyo wants New Delhi to maintain its commitment to voluntary unilateral moratorium
In signing the civil nuclear agreement with India, Japan made a major exception for a non-signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), based on India’s impeccable nuclear record.

But sources say India, too, may have given exceptional commitments on its nuclear sovereignty and right to conduct nuclear tests in order to bag the deal.

According to officials, while the Nuclear Cooperation Agreement (NCA) signed in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Friday followed the template set in the India-U.S. civilian nuclear agreement of 2008, a text signed in addition to it is a departure from the past.

In the additional document, called the “Note on Views and Understanding” signed by Indian and Japanese nuclear negotiators after the meeting, Article I (iii) says: “The representative of the Japanese delegation stated that an Indian action in violation of the September 5 statement could be viewed as a serious departure from the prevailing situation. In that situation, reprocessing of nuclear material subject to the Agreement will be suspended in accordance with paragraph 9 of Article 14 of the Agreement,” invoking a section on emergency suspension of nuclear parts or fuel supply. (The reference to the ‘September 5’ statement was India’s voluntary moratorium on nuclear testing made for the Nuclear Suppliers Group in 2008.)

Binding provisions
When contacted by The Hindu, Indian and Japanese officials seemed to differ on how binding the additional note actually was. A senior MEA official privy to the negotiations said that the only “binding provisions are in the bilateral agreement (NCA).” However, in written replies to The Hindu, Japan’s Foreign Ministry Press secretary Yasuhisa Kawamura said Japan had made its intentions clear. “[If India conducts a nuclear test] Japan will give notice notify India of its intension of termination of the treaty and will cease its cooperation based on the treaty.

India also understands this, which is confirmed in the official document, “Note on Views and Understanding”, attached to the Treaty,” he said.

According to officials present at the bilateral meetings in Tokyo, Mr. Abe went further, saying frankly that Japan’s cooperation with India was “on the premise that India maintains its commitment to the unilateral and voluntary moratorium on nuclear test,” and urged India to sign the Non- Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT), that India has resisted for decades.

Striking similarities
At a press conference in Tokyo on Friday, Foreign Secretary S.Jaishankar said there were “striking similiarities” in the Japan deal with those of other countries.

However, former nuclear envoys say the text signifies India has gone “much further” in commitments to Japan than ever before. In the past, India had rejected direct references to nuclear tests as a trigger for cancelling the deal from the U.S., Canada, and Australia, amongst a dozen countries India has signed nuclear agreements with.

Next, India has allowed Japan to include the “emergency suspension” clause, which could mean a major shutdown of its nuclear power capabilities given that Japanese companies and spare parts are expected to be a crucial part of all future reactors in India. With the exception of Russian reactors, all the suppliers in negotiation with India at present: GE, Westinghouse and Areva have considerable ownership by Japanese companies Hitachi, Toshiba and Mitsubishi.

Finally, the additional note states that Japan can contest the claims by India for compensation if it suspends its nuclear cooperation with India. “Japan reserves the right to contest India’s claim of compensation for the adverse impact on the Indian economy due to disruption in electricity generation and loss on account of disruption of contractual obligations through the consultations provided for in paragraph 9 of Article 14 of the Agreement,” reads Article I(iv) of the document, available on the Japanese Foreign Ministry website.

The difference in perceptions between the MEA and Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Japan will be significant, given that the Japanese Parliament, Diet, is yet to approve the Nuclear cooperation Agreement. In India, the debate over nuclear sovereignty will be key, akin to the criticism the government faced over curtailing liability of foreign suppliers in the India-U.S. civil nuclear agreement resolution between PM Modi and US President Obama in January 2015.

 

[Hindustani78]

http://zeenews.india.com/news/india...ion-of-pact-not-binding-on-india_1949340.html

The government today said the note on "Views and Understanding" merely records the "views" of the Japanese side considering its "special sensitivities" and insisted that India has made "no additional commitments" over the similar agreements signed with the US and other countries.

In the Nuclear Cooperation Agreement, signed in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe in Tokyo on Friday, there is a note on 'Views and Understanding' wherein the Japanese side has cited India's September 2008 declaration of unilateral moratorium on atomic tests and said if this commitment is violated, the deal will terminate.

Indian government holds that this is merely recording of the views of the two sides.

"The termination clause is there in other NCAs (nuclear cooperation agreements) we have signed, including with the US (Article 14). However the circumstances triggering a possible termination are never sharply defined. Consideration also has to be given to mitigating factors," a source here said.

"That note is simply a record by the negotiators of respective views on certain issues. It is not the NCA which is what is binding," the source said.

The sources added that given Japan's special sensitivities as the only nation to have suffered a nuclear attack, "it was felt that their views should be recorded in a separate Note. The Note is a record by the negotiators of respective views on certain issues.

"It states, on the one hand, what could be Japan's views in advance on what is a hypothetical situation; that is their national prerogative. At the same time it also records India?s position on the same issue, which is a reiteration of the September 2008 commitments. No change is envisaged from those commitments and no, repeat no, additional commitments have been made by India."

"On termination, there is no change from the US template," the source added.

The nuclear agreement with Japan "follows the same template (as the US) but compresses the developments which have taken place since 2007. It reflects commitments which were made at the time of the NSG waiver in 2008, many of which were unilateral in nature," according to the source.

The four steps of the Indo-US deal which have been compressed and captured into a single stage are ? 123 agreement (2007), NSG waiver (2008), Reprocessing pact (2010) and Administrative mechanisms (2013), sources said.

The sources maintained that the views of Japan, "on when they can ask for it", is "their national prerogative".

Japan has made a major exception by signing the atomic cooperation agreement with India, despite it being non-signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

After the Indo-Japan deal was signed, Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar had said it is strikingly similar to atomic agreements India inked with the US and most of the other countries, having provisions like 'termination' clause.

In the 123 Agreement between India and the US, there is a clause for termination but it mentions that if India conducts a nuclear test, the two sides will initiate discussions immediately to understand the reasons for it. The discussions have to be concluded within a year, inferring that till then the nuclear deal will not be called off.

During the joint media interaction along with Modi after the deal was signed, Abe had referred to India's declaration of September 2008 with regard to voluntary moratorium on nuclear tests.

"This agreement is a legal framework that India will act responsibly in peaceful uses of nuclear energy and also in Non-Proliferation regime even though India is not a participant or signatory of NPT," he had said.

PTI

First Published: Sunday, November 13, 2016 - 17:45