India-Japan Economic Talks Aim At Bolstering Bilateral Trade, Energy and Civil Nuclear Cooperation

India and Japan hold their first strategic economic dialogue on strengthening mutual ties at New Delhi on Monday, said the Indian government.

The talks aim at bolstering existing bilateral relations between the two Asian democracies on various fronts as well as facilitating the start of a civil nuclear cooperation between them.

The 6th annual India-Japan Strategic Dialogue and the 1st India-Japan Ministerial-level Economic Dialogue on Monday at New Delhi is co-chaired by Indian external affairs minister S.M. Krishna and Japanese foreign minister Koichiro Gemba.

Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma and Japan's Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Yukio Edano, along with several other senior ministers and officials from both India and Japan, will participate in the economic dialogue.

The first economic dialogue will focus on various issues ranging from cooperation in energy and pharma sector to tariffs and nuclear cooperation.

Japan is looking forward to resolving issues in launching civil nuclear cooperation with India. India had expressed apprehensions in going ahead with nuclear cooperation after the Fukushima disaster. However, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda had allayed India's apprehensions in a statement last December and said that both countries will go ahead with negotiations after taking into consideration the safety aspects, the IANS report said.

In the Strategic Dialogue, the two sides will review all aspects of the bilateral Strategic & Global Partnership and discuss regional and international issues of mutual interest, Indian external Affairs Ministry said in a statement.

Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission of India Montek Singh Ahluwalia and Edano held the 5th meeting of the India-Japan Energy Dialogue on Monday morning.

In a joint declaration, both countries have decided to intensify cooperation in energy efficiency and conservation sector.

The meeting also focused on boosting cooperation in renewable energy, clean coal technologies and enhancing technology exchange in energy and related sectors.

Japan has cordial and thriving economic and commercial ties with India, and Japanese companies are investing millions of dollars in various projects across India.

Bilateral trade between the countries is currently around $15 billion and both sides have set a target of $25 billion by 2014, according to the IANS report.