Indo-Japan Civil Nuclear Cooperation Agreement

• After years of negotiations, India and Japan have signed a bilateral Civil Nuclear Cooperation Agreement on 11 November, 2016.
• With this, India has become the first non-NPT country with which Japan has signed a Civil Nuclear Agreement.
• The civil nuclear agreement between the two countries was not realized so far manly because India did not fit into Japan’s ‘Hikaku San Gensoku’ or three non-nuclear principles.
• These principles adopted in a resolution by Japanese parliament provide that Japan would neither possess nor manufacture nuclear weapons, nor shall it permit their introduction into Japanese territory.
• The talks for Civil Nuclear Agreement between the two countries had started when a joint statement in 2006 with joint statement by then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
• However, the discussions took five years to move to negotiation stage in 2010.
• The cause of delay was political opposition within Japan from anti-nuclear lobbies and media.
• Till now, India has also signed civil nuclear deal with 10 other countries viz. United States, Russia, South Korea, Mongolia, France, Namibia, Argentina, Canada, Kazakhstan, and Australia.

What were the main concerns of Japan before signing the agreement?

1. Since India has not signed Nuclear Non-Proliferation treaty (NPT) and it was the first country to test nuclear explosions after institutionalisation of NPT, a large sections is wary of nuclear trade with India.
2. Japan has been a victim of nuclear hazards twice in the history and it has created an opinion among large sections to completely stop nuclear trade. 
3. Nullification clause: Japan wants the clause which will allow Japan to stop Nuclear Cooperation with India if the latter conducts nuclear test. Though India has unilaterally imposed moratorium on nuclear testing in 2008 but Japan is not satisfied with it. 
4. Japan wants IAEA inspection of India’s nuclear facilities.

Importance of nuclear agreement for India.

1. Share of nuclear energy is on a continuous rise in India’s overall energy basket and international cooperation is key to achieving the ambitious INDC target of 40% non coal energy by 2030. 
2. Huge implications for overall strategic partnership with Japan. 
3. It will help India as a bargaining power while dealing with other countries. Eg: Australia
4. It will virtually make NPT insignificant for India, and India’s attempts for entry into Nuclear Supplier’s Group NSG will get a new push.
5. The deal would enable Japan to export nuclear power plant technology as well as provide finance for nuclear power plants in India.
6. It will also assist India in nuclear waste management and could undertake joint manufacture of nuclear power plant components under the Make in India initiative.

Bilateral Significance: