Japan Press Weekly

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2017 May 17 - 23 [POLITICS]

Lower House passes bill to ratify Japan-India nuclear deal

The House of Representatives on May 16 at a plenary meeting passed a bill to ratify the Japan-India Nuclear Agreement enabling Japan to export nuclear power-related technologies to India by a majority vote of the ruling Liberal Democratic and Komei parties.

Prior to the vote, Japanese Communist Party lawmaker Kasai Akira took the rostrum to oppose the bill. He noted that India is a nuclear weapons state that conducted nuclear tests in 1974 and 1998 and that the country is neither a party to the NPT nor a signatory to the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT). Kasai said that the Japan-India agreement is tantamount to giving approval to India’s nuclear weapons development program. He said that such a deed is totally inappropriate for Japan, the only country that experienced A-bomb attacks in the world.

Kasai also stressed that the bilateral agreement goes against the ongoing international effort to realize a treaty to ban nuclear weapons.

The JCP lawmaker cited the fact that the mayors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki opposed the nuclear agreement on the grounds that once India obtains nuclear materials and related technologies and equipment under the agreement, it may use them for nuclear weapons development. Kasai demanded that the Abe government sincerely listen to the voices of dissent from the A-bombed cities.

Noting that many Fukushima victims are still suffering hardships caused by the nuclear meltdowns six years ago, Kasai said that it is unacceptable for the government to turn a blind eye to this reality and promote the sales of NPPs to India.

Past related article:
> Japan-India nuclear deal should not be ratified: expert [April 13, 2017]