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Japan, India sign civil nuclear energy agreement

Japan signed a pact on Friday in which it agreed to sell civil nuclear power equipment and technology to India.

Japanese nuclear industry seeks markets oversees due to shrinking business in-house since 2011 Fukushima disaster.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his Indian counterpart, Narendra Modi, also agreed during talks to advance business and security cooperation.

The nuclear pact, though limited to peaceful commercial use, is controversial because India has not signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. It has raised concerns in Japan about a risk of the country’s technology being diverted to India’s nuclear weapons program.

The pact allows India to reprocess fuel and enrich uranium, though highly enriched uranium that can be used to make nuclear weapons is not permitted without written agreement by Japan.

The two leaders insisted the agreement will contribute to peaceful use of clean energy, and Japanese officials said Tokyo will scrap the deal if India conducts a nuclear test.

Modi praised the signing as “a historic step in our engagement to build a clean energy partnership” that will help India “combat the challenge of climate change.”

Anti-nuclear groups denounced the agreement, citing threats to safety and regional peace and increased risk of proliferation.