Japan also supports India’s nuclear programme
ISLAMABAD (PPA) – Japan once a peace-advocating country is fast growing into a defence and nuclear projects supporting country for India. According to report reaching here, Japanese defence officials have accepted an Indian request for the purchase of twelve ShinMaywa US-2i amphibious aircraft under a deal worth $1.30 billion by the Indian Navy.
India plans to deploy the search-and-rescue (SAR) maritime surveillance aircraft at strategically located Andaman and Nicobar Islands to extend Indian Naval reach in Indian Ocean Region.
PPA news agency has learnt that the deal for the purchase of hi-tech surveillance by Indian Navy was approved by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visited India September 13-14 by Indian PM Narendra Modi. The technical data and price for the deal was initialized during a between by India’s former Defence Minister Arun Jaitley and Japanese Minister of Defence Itsunori Onodera during September 5-6 in Tokyo.
ShinMaywa US-2 is Japan’s large Excellent Short Take Off and Landing (STOL) amphibious aircraft designed for air-sea rescue work. The aircraft is equipped with Electronic integrated instrument panel with “Fly-by-wire (FBW)” control system. Its high-powered engines/ propellers using the latest designs have proved to outstanding seaworthiness.
According to an Indian report Japan also agreed to offer 10-15 per cent discount to India on each of the plan that cost over $100 million. India plans to buy 12 of this search-and-rescue (SAR) maritime surveillance aircraft which the Indian Navy plans to deploy strategically at the Andaman and Nicobar Islands with the objective of carrying out patrols in the larger Indian Ocean Region.
There are also reports that Japan has agreed to transfer technology to India and during next phase of the deal and more such planes would be developed in India.
Meanwhile Japan is now supplying dual-drive nuclear components and nuclear technology to Indian following the India-Japan civil nuclear agreement came into force recently.
“The India-Japan Agreement for Cooperation in the Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy entered into force on July 20, 2017 with the exchange of diplomatic notes between Dr. S. Jaishankar, Foreign Secretary and Ambassador of Japan to India Kenji Hiramatsu. The nuclear technology deal has facilitated in bringing a network of nuclear energy cooperation for India, especially with the U.S. as prominent American nuclear companies are owned by the Japanese nuclear majors like Toshiba.
It is the first pace that Japan has concluded agreement to share nuclear technology and know-how with a country outside of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) regime. The Nuclear Suppliers Group, a group of 48 countries including the United States, France, Russia, Britain, China and Japan, had long banned export of nuclear power plant technology to India because it was not a party to the NPT.
It is surprising that Japan has conditioned its nuclear cooperation pact with Vietnam and Jordan with a provision that a nuclear test by those countries would constitute grounds for Tokyo to terminate the agreements. However, Indo-Japan Nuclear Agreement does not put any condition on India. Japan’s opposition Democratic Party had pointed also out that the pact with India does not carry a provision to strictly limit the use of Japanese nuclear plant technology to nonmilitary applications.
A clause in Indo-Japan Pact also says that Japan will consider whether the conditions that may lead to ending the pact have emerged as a result of India’s response to an action taken by a country whose behavior may affect India’s security and is of the same kind as an action India may take in response.
To the surprise of many defence observers Japan’s ‘National Defense Program Guidelines for FY 2011 & Beyond’ emphatically mentions India as “one of the most important countries together with Australia and ROK, both US allies, for “multilayered security cooperation”. –PPA