Sounding upbeat on the Indo-US nuclear deal, Japan on Friday said it will be wrong to compare the Indian nuclear programme with that of North Korea.
"It will be wrong to discuss India's nuclear issue on the same basis as North Korea's," Chief Cabinet Secretary and government spokesman Shinzo Abe told reporters in Tokyo.
Complete Coverage: President Bush in India
Abe said Japan understood the strategic importance of India and the significance of meeting its energy demand.
"It should be meaningful that India and the United States held dialogue and agreed in various areas as India, US and Japan share the values of freedom, democracy, basic human rights and the rule of law," he said.
On whether Japan was adopting double standards by urging North Korea to return to the Non-Proliferation Treaty but not pressing India, Abe said, "North Korea is suspected of violating the 1994 agreement in the first place and the issue of its nuclear (ambitions) has posed a grave concern to the international community."
"Japan will keep a close eye on international efforts on nuclear arms reduction and non-proliferation based on the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty," he added.
