We are not disappointed by Japan's stand on Indo-US N-deal: PM

On Board Air India One, Dec 16: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today denied he was disappointed by Japan's reservations about openly endorsing the India-US civil nuclear deal, saying he was convinced that, when the time came, Tokyo would support India in the 45-member Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG).

As the only country which has suffered a nuclear attack, Japan made it clear yesterday, at talks between Dr Singh and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe, that it had reservations about openly endorsing the deal.

Mr Abe said Japan would wait for India to sign the proposed country-specific agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) before making up its mind on the issue.

The Prime Minister said that he had not gone to Japan to "discuss these matters in any great length." "And the Japanese sensitivities on matters relating to nuclear have to be respected because they are the only country in the world which had been devastated by atomic weapons in the Second World War," he underlined.

Mr Abe had said yesterday that India should respond to the concerns of the international community and agree to IAEA safeguards. "We do have our sensitivities on such issues," he had said.

Dr Singh explained that under the Indo-US deal, Washington would seek a waiver from the Congress and then help and lobby for India in the NSG to modify its guidelines to enable international civil nuclear cooperation with India. Japan is a key member of the group.

"Our commitment is that we will have in place an India-specific safeguards agreement. That is the commitment, which is a public document, which is in the July 18 agreement (with the US) that the (Japanese) Prime Minister was mentioning," he said.

Overall, the Prime Minister was upbeat about the outcome of his visit, during which the two countries decided to upgrade their bilateral relationship to a strategic and global partnership. The two sides also signed as many as 12 statements and agreements aimed at enhancing the strategic and economic components of their relationship.

''As I see it, this visit of mine will transform our relationship with Japan, which is the second largest economy in the world,'' he said.

''And you can see the transformation that is involved because Prime Minister Abe himself said he looks upon the India-Japan relationship as the most important bilateral relationship for Japan.

That is a measure of the transformation that I expect will take place as a result of my visit,'' he said.

As regards the time frame in which some of the major projects planned between the two sides would be completed, Dr Singh said he expected work on the Rs 22,000 crore Multi-modal Dedicated Freight Corridors between Delhi and Mumbai and Delhi and Howrah to take off in a year.

He said Japan had already conducted a feasibility study and a detailed project report was under preparation. ''It should take off, I think, in a year's time,'' he said.

On the Delhi Metro project, he noted that Phase I was already completed and Phase II was under implementation. ''Therefore, quickly arrangements regarding the financing should be tied up,'' he said.

Asked if Japanese companies would get preferential treatment in these projects, Dr Singh said, ''The normal rule is that we go by competitive bidding. The Japanese industry's competitiveness is well-known and there is every possibility that a sizeable chunk of orders will go to Japan on merit.'' To a question about why there was a revival of interest in India among Japanese companies, the Prime Minister said, ''They recognise that a new India is in the making, that an economy that is growing at the rate of eight per cent per annum and has the ambition to grow at nine to ten per cent per annum offers new complementarities.'' He said, at his luncheon meeting with captains of Japanese industry in Tokyo yesterday, he saw ''a new-found enthusiasm'' among them about investing in India which he had never seen before.

''So, I feel for the first time, the synergy involving both the government and the industry of Japan is most favourable as far as investing in and trading with India are concerned,'' he remarked.

In response to a query about the worries in some quarters about the concerns expressed by security agencies regarding foreign direct investment in certain sectors, Dr Singh admitted there was some ambiguity on the issue.

''We will resolve it. I cannot say that the security concerns can be totally set aside but it is very important that security concerns are sector-specific and should not be targeted at individual countries,'' he added.

Apart from Mr Abe, the Prime Minister met several other Japanese ministers and leaders. He also interacted with Japanese and Indian businessmen.

Dr Singh had the singular honour of addressing the Diet, the Japanese Parliament, on Thursday. He and his wife, Mrs Gursharan Kaur, were received in an audience by the Emperor and Empress of Japan.

On the same day, the Prime Minister inaugurated the Festival of India in Japan and, along with Mr Abe, unveiled the joint logo of the Japan-India Friendship Year 2007 as part of the efforts to increase people-to-people contacts between the two countries.

UNI