Japan seeks India's cooperation against piracy, terrorism
Source: Moneycontrol
India today hoped that its strategic partnership with Japan would
deepen further to build an edifice for peace and stability in Asia, as
Tokyo sought expansion of areas of bilateral cooperation to deal with
the growing menace of piracy and terrorism.
The two sides exchanged their views on these issues during a meeting
between visiting Minister of State for Planning, Science and Technology
and Earth Sciences Ashwani Kumar and Japanese Foreign Minister Koichiro
Gemba.
During the meeting, Kumar expressed sympathies on behalf of the
people of India for the Fukushima nuclear disaster of March this year
following a massive earthquake and tsunami and voiced the country's
solidarity with Japan.
He expressed the hope that India and Japan would together deepen
their strategic partnership so as to build an edifice for peace and
stability in Asia, an official statement said.
Kumar informed the Japanese side that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
has ordered a comprehensive reinforcement of safety measures in India's
nuclear power plants and added that India is prepared to move in this
regard consistent with Japan's policies.
On his part, Gemba said the two countries should enlarge the areas of
cooperation and together secure the safety of the sea lanes against
piracy and terrorism so as to ensure maritime security and the security
of energy supplies of both India and Japan.
He also stated that Japan supports the call for reform of the UN and multilateral institutions to reflect the new realities.
India is looking forward to the visit of Prime Minister Yoshihiko
Noda to the country in December and Kumar hoped that the strategic
dialogue between the two countries will precede the annual summit
meeting.
Kumar said that India remains committed to a fair and
non-discriminatory non-proliferation regime and expressed appreciation
for Japan's support to India in the Nuclear Supplier Group (NSG) for its
civil nuclear energy programme.
He also proposed establishment of an Indo-Japan Science Centre in India.
The two ministers exchanged notes on the ways to mark the 60th
anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two
countries to further deepen their multifaceted engagement.
Comments