Press Conference by the Press Secretary 19 January, 1999

1. Coming session of the Joint Japan-Russian Federation Committee on the Conclusion of a Peace Treaty
2. Meeting between Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs Minoru Tanba and Foreign Secretary Krishnan Raghunath of India
3. Possible contacts between Japan and North Korea
4. Status of measures taken by Japan in response to the nuclear tests conducted by India

1. Coming session of the Joint Japan-Russian Federation Committee on the Conclusion of a Peace Treaty

   Deputy Press Secretary Masaki Okada: Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. After our rather long break, this is the first press conference for me this year. First, I would like to make a statement concerning the coming session of the Joint Japan-Russian Federation Committee on the Conclusion of a Peace Treaty. Before that, I shall also touch upon the health situation of President Boris Yeltsin of the Russian Federation. We understand that he was admitted to hospital because of an acute bleeding ulcer on 17 January. Yesterday evening, Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi sent a message through our Embassy in Moscow, to wish him a quick recovery. Then to this coming session of the Joint Committee, the Vice-Ministerial-level meeting of this Joint Committee will be held on 21 January in Moscow. The first meetings of the National Boundary Demarcation Committee, as well as the Committee on Joint Economic Activities, will be held there. In the National Boundary Demarcation Committee, we understand that the Russian side will further elaborate or explain to us their proposal which was put forward to the Japanese side at the last Summit meeting in November in Moscow and thereafter we are going to discuss both proposals, from Japan and Russia. In the Committee on Joint Economic Activities, we are going to discuss the possible content of the joint activities and we are going to also discuss the legal framework to enable such kind of activities. We also understand that in the Joint Committee, we are going to consult about the schedule of the visit of Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov of the Russian Federation to Japan and other political schedules between Russia and Japan.

   Related Information (Japan-Russia Relations)
   
2. Meeting between Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs Minoru Tanba and Foreign Secretary Krishnan Raghunath of India

   Q: Can you brief us about the India-Japan talks?

   Mr. Okada: Foreign Secretary Krishnan Raghunath of India had a meeting with Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs Minoru Tanba. Yesterday was the ninth vice-ministerial-level political consultation. Foreign Secretary Raghunath also paid a courtesy call to Minister for Foreign Affairs Masahiko Koumura this morning. The consultation of yesterday lasted very, very long, more than five hours. This vice-ministerial-level political consultation is in principle to be held annually. This ninth round was originally scheduled for June last year, however as you know, after the Indian nuclear tests in May, the consultation was postponed as it was understood that there was no atmosphere conducive to such kind of consultation. As a result, the consultation was postponed and finally held yesterday, for the first time since 1996.

   Generally speaking, we had a very good meeting in a very good atmosphere. I can tell you four points. Firstly, Japan-India relations, which cooled down since the Indian nuclear tests, came to be normalized through this consultation. Both sides agreed to proceed with a series of inter-governmental consultations. For instance, we agreed that the Japan-India consultation on trade matters will be held between Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs Kouichi Haraguchi and his counterpart of the Ministry of Commerce of India on 2 February in Tokyo. Policy dialogue will also be held between the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) and the Foreign Ministry of India late February. We also agreed to hold the meeting of the Japan-India Joint Committee on Science and Technology, although the concrete date has not been decided yet. The consultation between the Defense Agency of Japan and India will be held as well. We also underlined the importance of the parliamentarian exchange and cultural exchange. This is the first point.

   The second point concerns political dialogue, as I discussed in the first part, but more concretely, the Indian side accepted the invitation extended to Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh and we agreed to find an appropriate date for his visit to Tokyo. First, we are going to make efforts to create an atmosphere including through such various consultations as I mentioned, and find an appropriate date.

   Thirdly, regarding nuclear issues, the Japanese side on the one hand evaluated the Indian declarations on the moratorium of nuclear tests, the participation in the Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty (FMCT) negotiations as well as the determination to take export control. Japan however repeated to urge India concerning four points; the adherence to the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), the tightening of its export control related to nuclear weapon and missile-related material and technology, suspension of the production of nuclear fission material which is used for the production of nuclear weapons, and lastly the self-restraint of the missile tests and deployment. Further, the Japanese side strongly urged the Indian side to restrain missile tests, in particular, in light of the recent media reports on the possibility of missile tests by India and the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.

   To this Japanese appeal, the Indian side repeated what it had already explained on other occasions. Concerning the CTBT, Foreign Secretary Raghunath repeated the contents of the address made by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee at the General Assembly of the United Nations last September and at the same time said that India attached great importance to the suspension of sanctions against India and the adherence to the CTBT by, in particular, the nuclear countries. Second, concerning the export control of the nuclear and missile-related materials and technology, the Indian side said that the export control is appropriately undertaken. As for the FMCT treaty negotiations, the Indian side said that it is ready to constructively participate in the negotiations, but the treaty shall be non-discriminatory and equipped with an effective inspection scheme. It was said that at the present time, it cannot accept the unilateral suspension of the production of nuclear fission materials. Concerning the missile tests, as Prime Minister Vajpayee reported to the Parliament in December last year, the development of missiles by India is strictly defensive in nature and very limited and it does not intend to develop the weapons without any limit. So all in all we think that concerning the nuclear issues, we see certain development on the Indian side but at this consultation both sides just restated their own original positions and that is what we understood. Also, in this relation, the Indian side asked us to positively consider the ongoing projects vis-B-vis India. Japan explained that we are going to review or examine the projects case by case giving very careful consideration, and consider the possibility of implementing the yen credit. In particular, when we really proceed with these ongoing projects, we further need exchanges of notes. Therefore, before we come to the signature of the exchange of notes, we need the understanding of the Japanese public opinion. For that purpose, we also need some positive developments from the Indian side concerning the nuclear non-proliferation issues.

   Lastly, we had various kinds of exchange of opinions on regional and international affairs. From the Indian side, we received some explanation on the situation in South Asia. From our side, we explained our understanding of the Afghanistan and Iraq and other Middle Eastern situations. In particular, Foreign Minister Koumura just came back from his tour to the Middle Eastern countries and the Japan side explained this visit to the Middle East. We also exchanged views on the Korean Peninsula and our relations with the People's Republic of China, the United States and Russia, including the visit by President Kim Dae Jung of the Republic of Korea and President Jiang Zemin of the People's Republic of China to Japan. There were also some comments from the Indian side on these topics. We had some consultation on the United Nations reform, environment and terrorism. We had such an extensive agenda, that we had to consult for more than five hours yesterday. This is what I should explain to you. This morning, Foreign Secretary Raghunath also paid a courtesy call to Foreign Minister Koumura. There is no additional information concerning the contents, but I should just underline that the atmosphere itself was very good. The Japanese side especially urged the Indian side to restrain its missile program and from the Indian side we received the same explanation concerning missile development. The Indians do not intend to engage in an arms race and this is just for the security of its own country and very limited and it will not lead to the instability of the region. That is concerning the missile and nuclear matters. They once again thanked the Japanese side for the invitation to Foreign Minister Singh and the message from Foreign Minister Singh was transmitted to Foreign Minister Koumura and he strongly hopes to meet Foreign Minister Koumura at an early date.

   Q: Anything about Mr. Yanai's talks?

   Mr. Okada: No. As far as I know, there was no meeting.

   Q: There was no meeting?

   Mr. Okada: No meeting. The counterpart is Deputy Foreign Minister Tanba. That was the meeting of yesterday. As far as I am informed, this morning there was a courtesy call to Foreign Minister Koumura.

   Related Information (Japan-India Relations)
   
3. Possible contacts between Japan and North Korea

   Q: There have been statements by Japanese politicians about North Korea. Mr. Yanai made a remark yesterday that Japan has started informal, limited contact with North Korea. Prime Minister Obuchi has made some statements. I believe that Foreign Minister Koumura has said that there is willingness to improve relations with North Korea by reopening a dialogue if North Korea adopts a constructive attitude on certain issues. Is this a new shift in Japan's stance toward North Korea? Is this a new development?

   Mr. Okada: I shall say that unfortunately there has not been any improvement or any development as such. After the missile tests of North Korea on 30 August, we introduced some sanction measures. We just lifted one of them, that is concerning the Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization (KEDO). That is what we have been doing. We have not changed. So long as there is no positive reaction from the North Korean side, we still do not intend to reopen our negotiations for normalization with North Korea but we find it quite unhealthy and not so desirable that we have no contact at all. Therefore, apart from coming back to normal relations with North Korea, we just have some sort of very tentative survey. In Japanese, we say it is under the water or under the water surface. It is less formal than informal I think. That is what we say. I cannot say more at the present stage. That is also what Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs Shunji Yanai intended to say yesterday. Foreign Minister Koumura also said the same.

   Q: So there is some kind of contact with North Korea?

   Mr. Okada: Yes. Some kind of contacts. That is very tentative, very informal.

   Q: Is it new or recent?

   Mr. Okada: I have nothing to say. I cannot say anything to that because that is not the usual contacts. That is still under the water surface. We just say that we need some sort of contacts and we have to say something to the North Koreans.

   Q: Just to confirm, Foreign Minister Koumura's recent comments are not new?

   Mr. Okada: They are not new. We have some contacts but that is different from regular and very formal ones.

   Related Information (North Korea's Missile Launch)
   
4. Status of measures taken by Japan in response to the nuclear tests conducted by India

   Q: Can I receive your comment on this business of lifting sanctions or measures on India? The Americans have waived certain sanctions and the US Government worked with the Congress to take some power into its own hands and relax them. Whereas in comparison, when the Hashimoto Government imposed these measures, it was an executive decision which the Diet did not require. So would it not be easier for the --

   Mr. Okada: I think the nature of the measures of sanctions between Japan and the United States was different. The measures concerning the lifting of the sanctions undertaken by the United States are trade related measures and we have not undertaken such measures. What we did is just to stop the introduction of new aid to India. It excludes ongoing ones. It excludes the trade measures. Therefore what we suspend is just the extension of new assistance to India.

   Q: When you say "excludes ongoing ones," but earlier --

   Mr. Okada: Concerning ongoing projects, we received some sort of request and positive consideration from the Indian side. We told them that even though it is ongoing, in principle outside the Japan sanctions, we need some sort of understanding from our general public and for that purpose we also need some positive steps from the Indian side.

   Q: Now you are linking it -- ongoing projects also to the --

   Mr. Okada: No. Not linking. However we have to be careful. We have to pay consideration. Even on the ongoing project we need a new exchange of notes. We need some additional legal steps to continue our assistance concerning ongoing projects.

   Q: What specific steps do you want India to take before you sign the notes for ongoing projects?

   Mr. Okada: I do not want to specify anything but as I told you, there are four fundamental points we want the Indian side to understand and concerning those points, the Indian side should take some measures. That is what we expect.

   Q: Would it be correct to infer that you have actually then expanded the list of sanctions because sanctions excluded ongoing projects but now you are linking --

   Mr. Okada: Even though there is no sanction, when we sign a new exchange of notes, we have to take into consideration all the environmental or all the other conditions and that is quite a normal situation and we stick to the very normal situation. In that context, between India and Japan this very problematic issue still stands. We have to pay attention to that.

   Q: Did you offer India any legislative assistance like you offered to Pakistan on export controls?

   Mr. Okada: No.

   Q: Do have some figures on ongoing projects in India?

   Mr. Okada: As far as I understand, there are 18 projects such as electrical power stations and so on all founded on Japan's yen credit.

   Related Information (Response of the Government of Japan to the Nuclear Tests Conducted by India and Pakistan)