New Delhi: India, which has not signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), will become the first such nation, to ink a civil nuclear deal with Japan, a media report said on Sunday.
TOI reported that as part of the deal both sides would stop their civil nuclear cooperation if India conducts a nuclear test.
India is expected to sign the deal with Japan when Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrives in Tokyo for a three-day visit next week.
The agreement will allow Japan to export nuclear power plants to India.
Citing experts, the report said Japan changed its stand on nuclear cooperation in view of China's growing military presence in the region, particularly in the disputed South China Sea.
"...if one considers the matter carefully, it becomes clear that civil nuclear cooperation between Japan and India will have virtually no negative impact on the non-proliferation regime," the report quoted researcher Satoru Nagao of Tokyo Foundation as saying in an article.
"India has demonstrated a firm commitment to non-proliferation principle in practice. It clearly differs from countries like North Korea, Pakistan, and Iran, which have conducted shady dealings on the 'nuclear black market'.
“If India continues to control its nuclear technology as carefully as it has for the past half-century, cooperation on the use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes should not undermine the NPT regime," Nagao wrote.
So far, 11 countries, including US, Russia, Britain, France, Australia, have signed civil nuclear cooperation agreements with India.
