The two-day talks, led by joint secretary (East Asia) Gautam Bambawale of India and special representative Mitsuru Kitano of Japan, focused on the contents of the agreement which is aimed at forging cooperation between the two countries.
India and Japan today wrapped up the second round of talks for civilian atomic cooperation pact that will pave the way for sale of advanced technology by Japanese majors Hitachi and Mitsubishi.
The two-day talks, led by joint secretary (East Asia) Gautam Bambawale of India and special representative Mitsuru Kitano of Japan, focused on the contents of the agreement which is aimed at forging cooperation between the two countries in peaceful use of nuclear energy, sources said.
Significantly, Japanese prime minister Naoto Kan has named India as one of the countries that must take active steps to ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT).
Japanese foreign minister Katsuya Okada, during his visit to India sometime back, had expressed his country's concern over any test India may conduct in future and talked about an exit clause in such a scenario.
The latest round of talks comes over three months after the launch of parleys for civil nuclear cooperation and barely days before Singh's visit to Tokyo from October 24.
Though a great amount of progress is believed to have been made on the draft contours of the pact, the sources maintained there was no timeline to conclude the same.
The negotiations for the pact were launched on June 28 when officials of both the countries had met for the first round in Tokyo.
The agreement will enable Japanese companies like Mitsubishi, Hitachi and Toshiba, all having the advance civil nuclear energy technologies, to set up projects in India which, according to some estimates, has a market of nearly $150 billion.
Major atomic power companies of the United States and France, both of which already have a bilateral nuclear cooperation treaty with India, have urged Tokyo to sign the nuclear pact with New Delhi so that they can use Japanese technology for building reactors in the country.
The other countries with which India has already signed the civil nuclear deal included the US, France, Russia, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Argentina and Namibia.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}