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India's nuke policy 'a thorn': Japan

Japan today said it wants India to sign the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty before it resumes aid, which it froze after India carried out nuclear tests last year.

Japanese Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi told External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh that India's nuclear policy was ''a thorn'' in otherwise friendly ties between the two countries, a Japanese official told reporters.

In particular, Tokyo wants New Delhi to sign the CTBT. ''If India signs the CTBT, the thorn will be removed,'' the foreign ministry official quoted Obuchi as telling Jaswant Singh.

He said Obuchi had implied in his remarks a possibility of lifting Japan's freeze on new loans and grants to India.

Jaswant Singh told Obuchi that India was committed to its self-imposed moratorium on further nuclear testing and that it was working to build a domestic consensus on signing the treaty, according to the official.

Jaswant Singh said the Indian Parliament was set to debate the issue during its winter session, which starts later this month. ''It will be the first step in consensus-building,'' the official quoted him as saying.

Jaswant Singh arrived in Tokyo yesterday for a four-day visit during which he will meet political and business leaders. He was scheduled to hold talks later today with Foreign Minister Yohei Kono.

Reuters

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