Japan presses India to sign CTBT

Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama told his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh that Tokyo expected New Delhi to sign the CTBT soon. Singh reminded Hatoyama about India’s impeccable non-proliferation record and its unilateral and voluntary moratorium on nuclear explosive testing.

“I expressed the hope that India would sign and ratify the CTBT,” Hatoyama told reporters here at a joint press conference with Singh. “Prime Minister Singh told me that if the US and China signed the treaty, it would create a new situation.” Hatoyama is currently on a tour to India. He and Singh held the annual India-Japan summit on Tuesday.

The visiting Japanese PM admitted that Tokyo and New Delhi had differences over the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty known as NPT.

Singh said that he had explained to Hatoyama the situation that had forced India to take the “nuclear weapon route”. Both the Prime Ministers, however, agreed that negotiations on the Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty (FMCT) should immediately commence at the Conference on Disarmament.

The Japanese Prime Minister said that Tokyo would continue to seek New Delhi’s cooperation for “total elimination of nuclear weapons”.