Picture on Indo-US N-deal becoming clear: Japan

Ajay Kaul and Sagar Kulkarni

NEW DELHI: With India and the US finalising the civil nuclear deal, Japan has said the "picture" is becoming "clear" to it but it preferred a wait-and-watch approach till New Delhi negotiates safeguards agreement with IAEA.

Lauding India's track record on non-proliferation, Japan said it has been a "good boy" despite remaining outside NPT regime but New Delhi should shoulder the responsibility to strengthen the NPT regime.

"Basically, this matter is still under careful scrutiny and we are being briefed by the US and India to tell us precisely what happened," Japanese Ambassador Yasukuni Enoki told PTI in an interview here about the 123 agreement concluded last month.

Japan has got "good clarification from the Indian side and also we are approaching the US. So, I think the picture is becoming clear," he said ahead of the visit of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe here.

National Security Adviser M K Narayanan was in Tokyo over a week ago during which he apprised Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso about the nuclear deal.

Enoki said the attention is shifting to India-IAEA safeguards negotiations and the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG).

"We are watching the negotiations between India and the IAEA about the safeguards agreement," he said.

On NSG, he said the meeting of the 45-nation grouping is expected to be convened in the autumn and "then we will express our position."

Asked whether Japan would support the Indo-US nuclear initiative at the NSG, the Ambassador refused to spell out the position his country will take, saying it was premature. "This is a time it is under careful consideration."

He said Japan was aware of "India's good record of non-proliferation and India's strong impact on the international energy situation."

The only country to have suffered atom bomb attack, Japan has strong views on the nuclear issue but it is willing to have cooperation in the field with India if NSG approves it.

The issue will figure in talks Abe will have with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during his three-day visit beginning on August 21.

"If NSG accepts exceptional treatment for India in relation to its access to nuclear technology and fuel, that will generate more promising room for us to cooperate," Enoki said.

"This all depends on the process now under way. Once NSG accepts new international consensus regarding to India ... I think Japan is proceeding in line with international consensus," the envoy said.

During Singh's visit to Tokyo last December, Japan had agreed to engage in discussions on civil nuclear deal with India under "appropriate" international safeguards.

"Until now, the regime is very clear cut -- outside NPT all are bad boys. But India, though remaining out of the NPT is a good boy," Enoki said.

Japan seems to be worried that if exemption is granted in India's favour, other countries may also seek it. Tokyo wants that if India is granted exemption, a distinction should be made clear as to why it is being done for it only.

Enoki said India will have to share the responsibility of explaining to other countries as to why the exemption should be made only in its case to "cut the domino (effect)".

He emphasised the need for maintaining the "validity and strength" of NPT and said India should share responsibility in this regard.

Asked whether Japan would like India to sign NPT, he said "nobody has a clear answer to this".

Even for combating global warming, atomic energy has a very important status, Enoki acknowledged while speaking in India's context.

The US and other developed countries have been blaming India for being a major contributor of greenhouse gas emissions leading to global warming. While rejecting this view, New Delhi has been arguing that it requires nuclear power for producing clean energy.