New Delhi: In a bid to give impetus to their growing multi-faceted ties, India and Japan on Monday decided to have two new dialogues on maritime and cyber security, and also to "move forward" on the civil nuclear cooperation to obtain "mutually satisfactory" pact.
External Affairs Minister S M Krishna and his Japanese counterpart Koichiro Gemba co-chaired the 6th India-Japan Strategic Dialogue and 1st Ministerial-level Economic Dialogue here during which the two sides reviewed political and security cooperation and discussed ways to enhance and accelerate their trade and business ties.
They also discussed important international and regional issues, including situation in Afghanistan, Myanmar and North Korea`s nuclear programme.
Noting that the two countries have already had three rounds of negotiations on civil nuclear cooperation, Krishna, at a joint press conference with the Japanese minister, said, "We have instructed our negotiators on the way forward..." and added that the two countries understand "concerns" of each other which related to their historic experiences.
Asked on the progress in civil nuclear talks and if India`s non-NPT status was a sticking point in the negotiations, Gemba said, "We reconfirmed that we will move ahead with the negotiations to conclude, and agreements to obtain mutually satisfactory outcome.
"At the same time, I asked for understanding on Japan`s strong desire for nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation."
On the maritime dialogue, Gemba said, "India is actually situated at an important place on the sea lanes of the communication which links Japan with the Middle East. So, I cannot overlook the geo-political significance of the location of India."
PTI
