Statement on Japan-India Nuclear Energy Cooperation Agreement
Members of Japan Pugwash

  In their Joint Statement issued on December 12, 2015, Prime Ministers
of Japan and India announced that they reached the “agreement in
principle” on the conclusion of bilateral cooperation agreement on
peaceful use of nuclear energy between the two countries
(http://www.mofa.go.jp/mofaj/files/000117783.pdf). We, as members of
Japan Pugwash group who aim to abolish nuclear weapons and war, strongly
urge the Japanese government not to make any compromise on the
conditions of nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation in the course of
final negotiations for this agreement.

So far, as a result of the decision on the part of the Nuclear Suppliers
Group (NSG) that it would treat India as an “exceptional case”, many
nuclear suppliers including the US, Russia, France and Australia have
concluded bilateral cooperation agreements with India. We believe that,
regrettably enough, these steps have considerably undermined the global
norm for nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation.　We are of the
opinion that, if Japan is to conclude a bilateral agreement with India,
it should be done under conditions stricter than those stipulated in the
agreements concluded by other countries. Namely:

 (1) As Prime Minister Abe himself clearly stated in his press
conference that the agreement would be abandoned if India conducted
another nuclear test,we urge the Japanese government to make sure that
such a condition should be clearly stipulated, (2) So far, Japan has
been demanding the member countries of Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT)
that specific conditions should be met to prevent the military diversion
of technologies/materials transferred in accordance with the agreement.
Equal or stricter conditions should be stipulated in the agreement with
India. (3) Especially, non-transfer of sensitive technologies
(enrichment and reprocessing) as well as prohibition for domestic
enrichment and reprocessing in principle are essential conditions to be
met, (4) Conditions for nuclear disarmament, such as early ratification
of Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) as well as active
participation in negotiation of Fissile Material Cutoff Treaty (FMCT),
should be specified.

In addition to the question of nuclear reactor export, this Joint
Statement also refers to the export of weapons and military cooperation,
which would inevitably lead, we fear, to the intensification of military
confrontation and the destabilization of geopolitical situation in the
region. If Japanese government, in its quest for commercial interests,
neglects the potential political and moral risks involved, it would
undermine Japan’s long term diplomatic efforts in the field of nuclear
disarmament and non-proliferation. Such a policy is totally against the
wishes of hibakusha and the Japanese citizens as a whole who have been
striving for the abolition of nuclear weapons, and would deeply
disappoint them.

We express our serious concerns for the potential implications for the
"agreement in principle", and insist that there should be no compromise
on the cause of nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation.

December 20, 2015

 

Japan Pugwash

Yuzo Itagaki, Tomohiro Inagaki, Hiromichi Umebayashi, Akira Kurosaki, Yoshiko Kurita, Michiji Konuma, Yoko Kobayashi, Shoji Sawada, Mayumi Sugiyama, Tatsujiro Suzuki, Takao Takahara, Seigo Hirowatari, Masakatsu Yamazaki,