May 11, 2017
Japanese Communist Party lawmaker Kasai Akira on May 10 at a House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee meeting criticized the Japan-India Nuclear Agreement for lacking a clause stating that Japan will cease cooperation under the pact if India conducts a nuclear test.
The pact was signed by the two governments in November 2016. The Diet is now discussing a bill to ratify the bilateral agreement which will allow Japan to export nuclear power-related technologies to India, a nuclear weapons state that is not a party to the NPT.
Kasai pointed out that the Japan-Vietnam and Japan-Jordan nuclear agreements have provisions stipulating that Japan will suspend the agreements if the partner party carries out a nuclear test. The JCP lawmaker asked the government why the pact with India does not include a similar provision.
In response, Foreign Minister Kishida Fumio just repeated that the wording of the Japan-India agreement is a result of negotiations.
Kasai quoted Article 14 Clause 2 of the Agreement as stipulating that “[t]hey agree to take into account whether the circumstances that may lead to termination of this Agreement or cessation of cooperation under this Agreement resulted from a Party’s serious concern about a changed security environment”.
This suggests, Kasai went on to say, if India uses rising tension with Pakistan as a pretext for carrying out a nuclear test, Japan may not be able to exercise the right to terminate cooperation.
The JCP lawmaker said that once the agreement takes effect, the Japanese government will have to deal with all kinds of situations that arise, including the one that Kasai had just outlined. He criticized the government’s stance as totally inappropriate, particularly as the only atomic-bombed country in the world.
Past related articles:
> Japan-India nuclear deal should not be ratified: expert [April 13, 2017]
> Japan and India sign nuclear power pact [November 12, 2016]
The pact was signed by the two governments in November 2016. The Diet is now discussing a bill to ratify the bilateral agreement which will allow Japan to export nuclear power-related technologies to India, a nuclear weapons state that is not a party to the NPT.
Kasai pointed out that the Japan-Vietnam and Japan-Jordan nuclear agreements have provisions stipulating that Japan will suspend the agreements if the partner party carries out a nuclear test. The JCP lawmaker asked the government why the pact with India does not include a similar provision.
In response, Foreign Minister Kishida Fumio just repeated that the wording of the Japan-India agreement is a result of negotiations.
Kasai quoted Article 14 Clause 2 of the Agreement as stipulating that “[t]hey agree to take into account whether the circumstances that may lead to termination of this Agreement or cessation of cooperation under this Agreement resulted from a Party’s serious concern about a changed security environment”.
This suggests, Kasai went on to say, if India uses rising tension with Pakistan as a pretext for carrying out a nuclear test, Japan may not be able to exercise the right to terminate cooperation.
The JCP lawmaker said that once the agreement takes effect, the Japanese government will have to deal with all kinds of situations that arise, including the one that Kasai had just outlined. He criticized the government’s stance as totally inappropriate, particularly as the only atomic-bombed country in the world.
Past related articles:
> Japan-India nuclear deal should not be ratified: expert [April 13, 2017]
> Japan and India sign nuclear power pact [November 12, 2016]
