Japan, India agree to cooperate toward successful climate conference+

HUA HIN, Thailand, Oct. 24 Kyodo -
Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama and his Indian counterpart Manmohan
Singh agreed Saturday to cooperate toward achieving success at a key U.N.
climate change conference in Copenhagen in December, a Japanese government
official said Saturday.

Singh specifically called for Japan's support in the area of nuclear power
generation to improve energy efficiency, but Hatoyama said that Japan, as the
only country to have suffered atomic bombings, would like to study the
possibility of cooperation in such a field ''after considering various
elements.''
Hatoyama also noted that he is placing importance on promoting efforts to
abolish nuclear weapons, expressing hopes that India will sign and ratify the
Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty at an early date, the official said.
The bilateral talks were held on the sidelines of a series of summit meetings
related to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Thailand.
India is a member of the East Asia Summit, which involves the 10-member ASEAN,
Japan, China, and South Korea, as well as Australia and New Zealand. The EAS
will be held Sunday.
On climate change, Hatoyama stressed that India's commitment ''is essential''
to ensure the success of the December conference, at which the world will try
to clinch a deal on a successor treaty to the Kyoto Protocol, which expires in
2012.
Singh said India will contribute to addressing the problem of climate change
''as a responsible member of the international society.'' But he also suggested
that India's greenhouse gas emissions account for a small portion of the
world's total, the official said.
In the meeting with Singh, Hatoyama did not refer to his ''East Asian
community'' concept for closer regional cooperation. Singh, for his part, said
that Japan and India hold similar views on open and inclusive regional
cooperation and that he welcomes Hatoyama's leadership, the official said.
Referring to the prospects for signing a bilateral economic partnership
agreement, the Indian prime minister said the two countries need to ''become
flexible.''
An EPA goes beyond a free trade agreement, which aims mainly at removing
tariffs on goods and trade barriers for services, covering areas such as
intellectual property rights and investment protection rules.
In other bilateral talks Saturday, Hatoyama told his Thai counterpart Abhisit
Vejjajiva that Japan is ready to make contributions ''more than ever'' to
assist ASEAN integration.
Hatoyama also agreed with Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak to make
further efforts to promote trade under an EPA between the two countries that
took effect in 2006.
In a brief meeting with Hatoyama, Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo
said her government is earnestly considering the introduction of the Japanese
standard for terrestrial digital broadcasting services.
==Kyodo