India urges civil nuclear deal with Japan

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has called for an early civil nuclear cooperation accord with Japan as well as more Tokyo investment in India.

According to AFP, Singh made the remarks in an interview with Japanese media in the capital New Delhi on Saturday ahead of an official visit to Japan for talks with his counterpart Shinzo Abe.
The Indian premier said that he would “use this visit to strengthen our strategic and global partnership, which also includes trying to reach an agreement with regard to civil nuclear energy cooperation.”
Negotiations on a civil nuclear energy deal between Tokyo and New Delhi were suspended after a powerful earthquake and tsunami in March 2011 triggered a nuclear crisis in Japan.
Singh further urged Japanese industries to increase their investments in India and described his country’s insufficient infrastructure as “a big bottleneck.”
He said “I see an enormous role for Japanese industry to contribute not only to infrastructure development of India, but also to accelerate the tempo of the manufacturing sector.”
Singh will travel to Tokyo on May 27 for a four-day visit. He will also meet with Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko.
His visit to Japan was set to take place on November 2012, but it was postponed after Japan’s former Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda called elections in December, which led to his ouster.