India and Japan will resume negotiations on having a civil nuclear cooperation agreement with each other with the Prime Ministers of the two countries issuing a joint statement agreeing to “exert further efforts” for concluding it.
The declaration was made in a joint statement that was issued here tonight following a meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and visiting Japanese PM Yoshihiko Noda at the annual summit between the two countries.

On the financial front, the two sides agreed to enhance the bilateral currency swap arrangement from $3 to $15 billion in what is expected to help the sagging rupee. The agreement said it was hoped that “this significant enhancement will strengthen financial cooperation between the two countries and also contribute to the stability of financial markets besides giving a fillip to trade and economic ties between the two nations”.
In addition, the Japanese PM also expressed the intention to invest $4.5 billion in the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) project over the next five years. The project is aimed at creating industrial infrastructure along the Delhi-Mumbai Rail Freight Corridor which is currently under implementation with Japanese financial and technical aid. The joint statement while reaffirming the importance of civil nuclear cooperation between India and Japan also called upon negotiators from the two countries to make efforts to conclude the agreement with “due regard to each side’s relevant interests, including nuclear safety”.
It’s the nuclear safety bit that is of significant import. As also the push that the two PMs appear to have agreed to give for an agreement on civil nuclear cooperation between the two countries. For, post the Fukushima disaster in Japan, New Delhi had suspended the negotiations for an agreement, having held three rounds prior to the nuke melt-down. The last such discussions on the agreement were held in November 2010.
During the talks between the two PMs here this evening, they “reaffirmed the importance of civil nuclear cooperation between the two countries”.
The Japanese PM also said that his country will provide “information with transparency” on the status of the on-going probe into the Fukushima disaster as well as the efforts that have been made to “enhance nuclear safety”.
Earlier in the day, speaking at the Indian Council of World Affairs, Mr Noda emphasised that his country was keen on entering into a civil nuclear deal with India and expressed confidence that it would be finalised soon.
The two PMs also welcomed the commencement of negotiations on an agreement between India and Japan on Social Security which will contribute to the promotion of economic activities by private sectors of both countries. They instructed their relevant authorities to work towards an early conclusion of the negotiations.
As for maritime issues, the two sides reaffirmed their commitment to the universally-agreed principles of international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and other relevant international maritime law.
They affirmed expansion of cooperation in maritime security including safety and freedom of navigation and anti-piracy activities, by promoting bilateral and multilateral exercises, and through information sharing, as well as dialogues.
Terrorism too figures in the talks between the two sides with the joint statement saying that the two sides “resolved to develop greater cooperation in combating terrorism through sharing information and utilising the India-Japan Joint Working Group on Counter-Terrorism, as well as cooperation in multilateral forums such as the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and the Global Counter-Terrorism Forum (GCTF).
The two PMs recognised the urgent need to finalise and adopt the Comprehensive Conven-tion on International Terrorism in the United Nations and called upon all states to cooperate in resolving the outstanding issues expeditiously.