Manmohan Singh hugs daughter Upinder at the release of her book, A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India, on Tuesday. “This is the first time I have seen her speaking at a public function. I am very happy. She spoke with courage and confidence,” he said. Picture by Rajesh Kumar

New Delhi, Aug. 5: The only country to have faced the horrors of an atom bomb today remained non-committal on supporting India’s bid for nuclear commerce and insisted that Delhi join the non-proliferation club.

“Japan has been continuously requesting India to join the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty as well as ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty,” foreign minister Masahiko Koumura said in Delhi after talks with Indian counterpart Pranab Mukherjee.

“This is something we will not change our position on and continue to ask India.”

Japan is an important member of the 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group and Koumura’s visit is the first by a top official of an NSG country after atomic watchdog IAEA approved the India-specific safeguards agreement last week.

The NSG meets in Vienna on August 21-22 to deliberate on America’s proposal for a clean waiver that would enable non-member India to begin nuclear commerce with member countries.

Koumura said his country was aware of India’s “growing energy needs” but wanted to be sure that Delhi’s nuclear deal with Washington would not undermine non-proliferation efforts.

“We need to confirm that the nuclear co-operation is satisfactory, in the sense that it will further strengthen international disarmament and not undermine nuclear disarmament,” he said.

Mukherjee sought to allay the concerns, saying the Indo-US deal was “limited to peaceful energy” programmes and that Delhi had an impeccable record on non-proliferation.

“We seek co-operation of the international community.… We are aware of Japan’s sensitivity. In view of that, I reiterated our firm commitment to total disarmament and strict adherence to conditions of non-proliferation as enshrined in various treaties,” Mukherjee said at a joint news conference with Koumura.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Tuesday there were a “lot of hurdles” to be crossed before the Indo-US nuclear deal could be implemented. “We have a lot of hurdles to cross. The next stage is NSG (Nuclear Suppliers Group),” Singh said. The 45-member group has to clear the deal before it can be presented to the US Congress for approval. The NSG is expected to meet on August 21, and acting US state department spokesperson Gonzalo Gonzales said he was hoping for a positive outcome. “Hopefully, we’ll be able to represent this to Congress on September 8.” he said.