TOKYO: India and Japan's premiers Monday said they had broadly agreed on a pact to step up trade between the population giant and the high-tech nation but needed time for a deal on civilian nuclear cooperation. India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his counterpart Naoto Kan also stressed the warm ties linking two of Asia's biggest democracies at a time of high diplomatic tensions between Japan and communist-ruled China. Kan said after talks with Singh, who was on a three-day Tokyo visit, that “through this meeting, we were able to confirm and be confident about progress in the strategic global partnership between Japan and India”. The two leaders declared the completion of talks on a free trade and investment pact, with a formal signing expected in coming months, under which tariffs on 94 percent of trade would be phased out within a decade. The deal will help Japanese auto giants such as Suzuki who have opened plants in India by lifting tariffs on parts, while also easing access to the market in fast-greying Japan for Indian generic drugs. “We signed a joint statement confirming the conclusion of negotiations on a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement between Japan and India,” said Kan after a meeting with Singh. Singh called the conclusion of talks launched in 2007 “a historic achievement” which would “open up new business opportunities”. They also agreed to cooperate in fields as diverse as stabilizing Afghanistan, combating climate change, safeguarding biodiversity, and pushing UN reforms and free trade efforts, a joint statement said. On another key agreement sought by New Delhi – civilian nuclear cooperation – the leaders however only said they welcomed the start of talks. Japan and India launched negotiations in June on a pact that would allow Tokyo to export its cutting-edge nuclear technology to the energy-hungry South Asian nation, a hotly contested market for atomic plants. But Japan – the only country to have suffered atomic bombings and a key voice in global de-nuclearization efforts – is worried by the fact that nuclear-armed India has not signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.. – Agence France
