Manmohan Singh looks for investments, nuclear deal from Japan

Prime minister Manmohan Singh flew to Tokyo today on the first leg of a five-day visit to East Asia, hoping to tap Japanese investments for India's rising infrastructure needs, especially to seek Japanese cooperation in nuclear power generation in India.

India and Japan are increasing bilateral economic cooperation as Japan and India have complementary economic circumstances. India is badly in need of investments and capital where as Japan, with its saturated economy, is looking for markets and new investment avenues elsewhere.

Singh, who flew to Tokyo, his first halt, described Japan as a "key regional and global partner for India."

Singh has embarked on a five-day visit to Japan and Thailand to further New Delhi's `Look East' policy that aims to build a peaceful and prosperous Asia-Pacific region.

Addressing the media before his departure, the prime minister said his visit for the annual bilateral summit had to be deferred last year because of the general elections in Japan.

''Japan is a key regional and global partner for India. There is a growing congruence in our interests and I see this relationship as an essential component of our vision for enduring stability and prosperity in Asia,'' he said, adding that he expects to build on the momentum of the previous summits to further boost India-Japan strategic and global partnership.

"My visits to Japan and Thailand will add depth and new meaning to our 'Look East' policy and contribute to peace, prosperity and stability in the Asia-Pacific," he said.

During his three-day visit to Japan, Singh will make a strong pitch for elevating strategic ties and push for a bilateral pact on civil nuclear energy cooperation.

Singh will hold exhaustive talks with his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe on Wednesday on the entire gamut of bilateral ties with special focus on giving boost to cooperation in defence, economic, energy and other areas.

"There is a growing congruence in our interest and I see this relationship as an essential component of our vision for enduring stability and prosperity in Asia," the prime minister said.

On the civil nuclear cooperation agreement, Singh told Japanese said there are problems in Japan and there are elections to the upper house in that country which will take place later this year.

"But, I do hope that we can make progress in the civil nuclear energy cooperation," he said.

"It will be my effort to 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," Singh said.

The Japanese government has been rather slow in negotiations for the civil nuclear cooperation agreement with India since the Fukushima nuclear disaster in March 2011.

While India has Japanese backing for its civil nuclear programme, Tokyo does not have the political mandate to support nuclear power programmes in other areas because of a strong non-proliferation lobby in that country.

Though India has put a moratorium on further nuclear testing, Japan has been insisting on a clearer commitment from it in terms of signing the NTPC.

"There are a number of stages we will have to go through before we reach a signature," according to foreign secretary Ranjan Mathai, who said discussions on the civil nuclear cooperation agreement have been given "some impetus" recently.

Safety is one of the key issues from the Indian side in the negotiations for such a pact.

In his statement, Singh also said that, "We will explore ways to harness the full potential of our Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Partnership (CECP) by intensifying and balancing our two way trade and investment linkages".

The two countries are expected to review progress of flagship projects like the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor and the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor.

Besides, Singh and Abe are expected to exchange views on important regional and global developments of mutual interest.

During his visit, Singh will also interact with leaders across the political spectrum in Japan, captains of Japanese industry and friends of India from all walks of life in order to boost overall Indo-Japan relations.