Despite Fukushima,Indo-Japan n-talks to go on

Despite being in the middle of a nuclear crisis,Japan has decided to carry forward the talks on civil nuclear deal will India.

Despite being in the middle of a nuclear crisis,Japan has decided to carry forward the talks on civil nuclear deal will India,but with a rider: the next round of negotiations will be held only after the safety audit of nuclear plants in both countries. India has 20 nuclear plants,and Japan 54.

New Delhi and Tokyo have held three rounds of negotiations since June last year on a civil nuclear cooperation agreement,which is crucial since American and French nuclear companies have Japanese partners,and without an Indo-Japan agreement,nuclear deals with the US and France would be non-starters.

The two countries were scheduled to meet in March for the fourth round,sources said,but it had to be put off as tragedy crash-landed on Japanese shores on March 11. The subsequent,and ongoing,nuclear crisis at Fukushima nuclear plant raised fears of safety of nuclear plants in Japan and elsewhere.

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So,sources added,Tokyo does not want to rush into nuclear negotiations at present; nor does New Delhi want to force it.

Now,the negotiations will resume only after safety reviews are completed,most likely by the time the Japanese prime minister visits India later this year for an annual summit with his Indian counterpart,a source said.

Japan,facing an estimated loss of $300 billion on account of the devastation caused by the earthquake and the tsunami,has assured India that while some of the short-term commitments may get delayed,long-term commitments will be met.