Nuclear cooperation key to future India-Japan ties: Jaishankar

New Delhi, Sep 8: India said on Friday said that Japan can make a substantive difference to its nuclear industry and defence as two domains that portend the future direction of the bilateral ties.

Speaking at the 'India-Japan Colloquium', Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar also noted that the growing convergence of views between Japan and India has the capacity to drive Asia's economy and development and stimulate the global growth.

"In this regard, the two countries have agreed to cooperate closely to promote connectivity, infrastructure and capacity-building in the regions that occupy the inter-linked waters of the Indo-Pacific," the foreign secretary said. Cooperation in civil nuclear energy and in defence are two domains that portend the future direction of our ties and the difference that Japan can make to our nuclear industry can be quite substantive, he said.

India and Japan signed a civil nuclear deal during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Japan visit in November 2016. The deal, which enabled Japan to export nuclear power plant technology to India, came into force in July this year.

"Japan’s openness to supply India with military technology reflects the high level of confidence that the two countries have developed in each other," Jaishankar said.

Asserting that the interaction between India and Japan now has significance beyond the bilateral and the Asia- Africa growth corridor was just one example, he said drawing on all these factors, India and Japan stand ready to move their relationship forward with determination.

"Prime Minister Abe's forthcoming visit will present an occasion to demonstrate this concretely. But in an increasingly uncertain world, they are now purposefully heading towards a more collaborative future. Their success in doing so has significant implications for the world," he said.

Japanese Prime Minister Abe is expected to undertake a three-day visit from September 13. Accompanied by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he is expected to go to Ahmedabad, where both the leaders will take part in the groundbreaking ceremony for the ambitious Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Rail Project, commonly referred to as the bullet train project, on September 14.

PTI