Capping years of negotiations, India and Japan on Saturday sealed a broad agreement for cooperation in civil nuclear energy with the final deal to be signed after certain technical and legal issues are thrashed out Japan is a major player in the nuclear energy market and an atomic deal with it will also make it easier for US-based nuclear plant makers Westinghouse Electric Corporation and GE Energy Inc to set up atomic plants in India as both these conglomerates have Japanese investments The agreement, featuring broad contours of cooperation in the nuclear field, was signed after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe held the ninth annual Indo-Japan summit talks here Reflecting the importance of the nuclear pact, Modi said it was more than just an agreement and that it was a "shining symbol" of a new level of mutual confidence and strategic partnership between the two countries towards the cause of a peaceful and secure world At a joint media event with Modi, Abe said Japan's cooperation with India in the nuclear field will be limited to peaceful objectives There was political resistance in Japan to go ahead with a nuclear pact with India, particularly after the disaster at the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant in 2011 The two Prime Ministers welcomed the agreement reached between the two Governments on the agreement between Japan and India for cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy, and confirmed that this agreement will be signed after the technical details are finalised, including those related to the necessary internal procedures, a joint statement issued after the talks, said
