Japanese party backs talks with India on civil nuclear deal

A top leader of Japan's New Komeito Party, part of the ruling coalition and perceived to be opposed to exporting atomic technology, today backed the negotiations for a civil nuclear pact with India and said "a flexible approach" should be adopted to go for the deal.
Chief Representative of New Komeito Party Natsuo Yamaguchi said there was a need to "accelerate" the talks between the two countries to finalise the civil nuclear deal, besides expanding cooperation in other areas.
Yamaguchi, who is leading a delegation of Japanese parliamentarians, met Vice President Hamid Ansari and External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid and discussed issues of mutual concern.

He said cooperation in nuclear energy sector figured in his talks with Khurshid besides other issues such as trade, commerce and investment.
"I explained (to Khurshid) that as a coalition member of the government in Japan, we have no major difference of opinion. I think the discussions need to be accelerated. A flexible approach is required to move forward on it," he told reporters later.
India and Japan had resumed their talks on the civil nuclear cooeration in September last, after a gap of nearly three years. Both sides discussed "all aspects" of the pact which will pave the way for export of nuclear reactors and technology to energy-starved India.

"In the meeting, I also added that Japan is a country where people had experienced nuclear bomb disaster. We had an accident of nuclear leakage. Both these issues are major issues among the Japanese people," Yamaguchi said.