Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh expressed the hope that
Japan would support India-US civil nuclear deal at Nuclear
Supplier's Group (NSG) in New Delhi on Wednesday.
Speaking at a joint press conference after signing an agreement
with Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe, Singh said he did not back
down on the nuclear deal with the US, and asked Japan for help on
the deal.
Commenting on the standoff between India's ruling coalition and
the Left parties over the India-US nuclear deal, Singh said there
was some turbulence, but he also expressed his confidence to
overcome it. He said, "When winter comes, spring cannot be far
behind."
"The two leaders shared the view that nuclear energy can play an
important role as a safe, sustainable and non-polluting source of
energy in meeting the rising global demand for energy," a joint
statement issued by the two prime ministers said.
"They looked forward to constructive deliberations at the
relevant international for a with respect to the international
civil nuclear cooperation framework under appropriate IAEA
safeguards with India, " said the statement.
Earlier, Japanese foreign ministry spokesman Mitsuo Sakaba told
reporters that Japan was "carefully examining" the India-US civil
nuclear deal and that Tokyo's "position on this matter has been one
of non-decision till now."
Japan, a key member of the NSG, has not showed its stance on
India-US nuclear deal mainly on account of the fact that India has
not signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty.
At present, the Left parties, which extend outside support to
Singh's government, have made it clear they will not budge on their
opposition to the India-US nuclear deal, saying the support to the
government would be withdrawn if the government goes ahead and
negotiates a safeguards agreement with the International Atomic
Energy Agency (IAEA) and the NSG.
Abe is on a three-day visit to India since Tuesday. He arrived
here from Indonesia and will go to Malaysia Friday.
(Xinhua News Agency August 23, 2007)
