Japan-India Summit Meeting
(Summary)

August 23, 2000
Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori and Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee held a meeting in New Delhi on August 23, 2000, from 6:15 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. local time.

1. Bilateral Relations

Prime Minister Mori expressed his gratitude for the welcome he had received on the first visit to India by a Japanese Prime Minister in 10 years and offered his condolences to the victims of the massacres in Kashmir in early August.

Prime Minister Vajpayee said that (1) he welcomed Prime Minister Mori's visit, felt sad that no summit visit had been made among such friends as Japan and India for 10 years, and hoped that this visit will increase the warmth of Japan-India relations; (2) he hoped that the relations between the two nations, which offer great possibilities for both parties, would be further strengthened, not just bilaterally but also by playing a role together regionally and internationally; and (3), noting Prime Minister Mori's visit to Bangalore, he hoped that the two countries would play a role together in the fields of economy and information technology.

Prime Minister Mori replied that, looking to the twenty-first century, he wanted to build a multifaceted cooperative relationship with India in a wide range of fields. He said he wanted to name this relationship the "Global Partnership between Japan and India in the 21st Century." Prime Minister Vajpayee agreed to this suggestion.

2. Nuclear Nonproliferation

1. Prime Minister Mori reaffirmed Japan's commitment to working with India toward the reduction and elimination of nuclear weapons and to cooperate with India to ensure that the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) will go into force as soon as possible. Prime Minister Vajpayee said that India had conducted nuclear tests for defensive purposes but had decided of its own accord not to conduct any further tests and guaranteed that India would not be the first to use nuclear weapons in any conflict.
   
   He said that talks between political parties within India on signing the CTBT are currently underway; he expects debate on the matter to move closer to his own expectations in the near future. India supports peace but also wishes to see such support from other countries, he said. He also said there would be no change in India's already declared stance of conducting no more nuclear tests. On these points, Prime Minister Mori said that he was impressed by Prime Minister Vajpayee's very constructive comments
2. On the Fissile Material Cut-Off Treaty, Prime Minister Mori expressed the wish to cooperate with India in order to start negotiations immediately and settle the issue within five years. Prime Minister Vajpayee agreed with this and hoped that the two countries would work together.
3. In recognition of India's progressive stance, such as its moratorium on nuclear tests until the CTBT takes effect, Prime Minister Mori announced that Japan would provide additional yen loans for two ongoing development projects-the Simhadri Thermal Power Station Project and the Delhi Mass Rapid Transport System Project. Prime Minister Vajpayee expressed his appreciation for this.

3. Reform of the U.N. Security Council

Prime Minister Mori said that, with regard to increasing the number of both permanent and nonpermanent members of the Security Council and including both industrial and developing countries among the new permanent members, it was necessary to get the agreement of as many member states as possible and to promote active debate about this issue; he hoped that Japan and India would work together to realize the reform of the Security Council at an early opportunity. Prime Minister Vajpayee said that the international situation have changed in the 50 years since the establishment of the United Nations and that the roles played by developing countries have increased, agreed on the need to make the two reforms mentioned by Prime Minister Mori, and expressed the wish to cooperate with Japan in the reform efforts.

4. South Asian Situation

1. Prime Minister Mori said that (1) during his visit to Pakistan he had called for the government there to work hard on making progress toward nuclear nonproliferation, starting with the signing of the CTBT at the earliest possible opportunity, to take effective measures against terrorism, and to resume dialogue with India, (2) he appreciated the active efforts of the Indian government and considered it important that talks be resumed soon based on the spirit of the February 1999 Lahore Declaration, and (3) the Kashmir problem must be solved through bilateral dialogue between India and Pakistan, but that Japan will support as much as possible confidence building between the two countries. On these points, Prime Minister Vajpayee said that he had visited Lahore in the hope of forging good neighborly relations with Pakistan but had been shocked by the loss of trust following the outbreak of conflict in Kargil. However, he expected relations with Pakistan to improve in the near future.
2. Prime Minister Mori said that the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) has an important role to play in the region's stability and development. Difficult problems remain between India and Pakistan, he added, but in order to support the SAARC's activities he expressed the wish to expand activities through the Japan Special Fund for SAARC. Prime Minister Vajpayee replied that regional cooperation was important and that he wanted to move the SAARC's activities forward.

5. Other Topics

1. Prime Minister Vajpayee reiterated an invitation for the Emperor and Empress of Japan to visit India in 2002 to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between India and Japan, and Japan invited President of India Shri K.R. Narayanan to visit Japan to mark the same occasion. Prime Minister Mori proposed that bilateral talks between Japan and India should be further strengthened; that, in particular, he expected a positive outcome from the trade talks scheduled for October 2000; that arrangements be made to hold talks on security and defense this year; and that the Japan-India Eminent Persons' Committee for the 21st Century should be officially launched in December 2000 or January 2001. He also announced Japan's intent to expand youth exchange between Japan and the South Asia region to 5,000 people over five years and to implement Japan-South Asia exchange programs, including the so-called Mori Fellowship, aimed at promoting intellectual exchange.
2. Regarding economic exchange, particularly in the information-technology (IT) sector, Prime Minister Mori reaffirmed the Indo-Japanese IT Promotion and Cooperation Initiative, which includes a proposal to issue multiple-entry visas valid for three years to Indian IT specialists. The Indian side supported this, and Prime Minister Vajpayee also agreed to Prime Minister Mori's proposal that in the future Japan should help India to conduct South-South cooperation in the field of IT.
3. Prime Minister Vajpayee thanked Japan for providing an explanation of the Group of Eight Kyushu-Okinawa Summit that was hosted by Japan and congratulated Japan on the Summit's success.