India, Japan agree to cooperate on climate change, disarmament

Sagar Kulkarni

Tokyo, July 3 (PTI) Cementing their strategic ties, India
and Japan on Friday agreed to cooperate on pressing global
issues of climate change, disarmament and non-proliferation
while moving ahead in negotiations to stitch a comprehensive
economic partnership pact.

India's External Affairs Minister S M Krishna, who is
here on a four-day visit, held wide-ranging discussions with
the Japanese side on the entire gamut of bilateral relations
during the third strategic dialogue he co-chaired with his
counterpart Hirofumi Nakasone.

"We are making progress in our negotiations on a
Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement. Foreign Minister
Nakasone and I agreed on the necessity of concluding a high
quality and mutually beneficial agreement," he said at a joint
press conference with Nakasone.

The two countries will hold further talks here later this
month on the matter.

Krishna and Nakasone also discussed the issues of
disarmament and non-proliferation and agreed to cooperate so
that negotiations for a Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty could
start as soon as possible, Nakasone was quoted as saying by
'Kyodo' news agency.

The proposed cut-off treaty mainly aims at banning
production of highly enriched uranium and plutonium, which
could be used in producing nuclear weapons.

Krishna said he assured Nakasone about India's
constructive participation in negotiations on nuclear
disarmament. "Our consistent policy is to support a universal,
non-discriminatory and verifiable regime for a nuclear
weapon-free world," he said.

Krishna also called on Japanese Premier Taro Aso, who
thanked India for supporting the candidature of its diplomat
Yukiya Amano, who has been chosen as the new head of the UN
atomic watchdog International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

On the issue of climate change which they identified as
an "important global challenge," India and Japan hoped that
all countries will participate constructively and work towards
an "ambitious" outcome at a crucial meeting on a pact to
replace the Kyoto protocol in Copenhagen later this year.

During his talks with Krishna, Nakasone asked India to
play a leadership role "even more positively and in a broader
perspective" at the UN-sponsored 'COP 15' meeting on climate
change in December to discuss a new agreement to replace the
Kyoto Protocol.

India has been resisting pressure from the Major
Economies Forum to agree to greenhouse gas emission reduction
commitments in a declaration being prepared for the G-8 plus 5
summit in Italy next week.

"I pointed out the significance of the Major Economies
Forum in the process called the 'COP 15' and expressed my hope
and expectation for India to exercise leadership even more
positively and in a broader perspective," Nakasone said.

Krishna stressed for an equitable and fair outcome at the
Copenhagen talks to ensure that developing countries are able
to continue their economic growth at an accelerated pace to
give "our people a better quality of life".

Japan is keen to get India's cooperation on persuading
industrialised and emerging countries to iron out differences
over how to fight global warming ahead of Copenhagen talks.

The new pact, a successor to the 1997 Kyoto protocol, is
controversial because key polluters like US and Europe want
emerging economies to also help cut global gas emissions.

Nakasone said that he and Krishna agreed to step up
dialogue on the issue of climate change.

The two leaders also agreed to enhance bilateral exchange
of views on situation in South Asia, including in Sri Lanka.

Nakasone said Japan and India should work together on the
issue of maritime security, including tackling piracy.

On North Korea, he said nuclear and missile development
by Pyongyang was a threat to the international community. "We
have to steadfastly implement the measures set out in the
United Nations Security Council resolution 1874 and make North
Korea to take this very seriously."

Krishna and his Japanese counterpart also agreed to
expedite the work on the Dedicated Freight Corridor and
Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor projects.

"I am confident that these will become important symbols
of our partnership," the External Affairs Minister said.

The two leaders also discussed regional and multilateral
issues, including the UN reform. PTI SKU
RAI
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