Japan and the United States on Friday agreed to “explore ways to enhance a new [global] framework for civil nuclear cooperation … without increasing the risks of proliferation” of atomic weapons.
This issue was discussed by Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama and U.S. President Barack Obama in Tokyo. In a joint statement on “a world without nuclear weapons,” issued after these talks, Japan and the U.S. pledged to “work actively … to achieve the total elimination of nuclear weapons” across the world.
The two governments would seek to achieve this goal in a manner that would “not in any way diminish the national security of Japan and the United States of America and its allies.”
The statement addressed their concerns about the nuclear programmes in North Korea and Iran. On a different matter of interest to India, which was not mentioned by name, the statement said: “The Government of Japan and the United States Government intend to work together and with other countries to explore ways to enhance a new framework for civil nuclear cooperation, including assurances of fuel supply, so that countries can access peaceful nuclear power without increasing the risks of proliferation.” The two sides also “agree that cradle-to-grave nuclear fuel management could be one important element of the [envisioned] framework.”
Japan and the U.S. further pledged their “support for efforts to secure all vulnerable nuclear material around the world within four years.”
In a “joint message on climate change negotiations,” also issued after Mr. Obama held talks with Mr. Hatoyama at his office, the two sides said they “aspire to reduce our own [greenhouse gas] emissions by 80 per cent 2050 and endorse a global goal of reducing emissions by 50 per cent by that year.” The reference year for these percentages was not spelt out in the “message.”
