A meeting between Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Indian counterpart Narendra Modi is set to be held in Tokyo in mid-November, with a civil nuclear cooperation pact likely to be signed, according to a source close to bilateral ties.
The pact would pave the way for Japan to export nuclear power plant technology to the fast-growing Asian economy. But it would be Japan's first signing of a civil nuclear cooperation pact with a country that has not joined the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
To ensure the nuclear technology transferred to India, considered a de facto nuclear weapons state, will not be used for military purposes, the pact will include a clause to halt Japanese cooperation with India if New Delhi conducts a nuclear test, the source said. Abe and Modi reached a basic agreement on the pact during a meeting last December.