India, Japan ink civil nuclear deal: What it means for India

The bipartite agreement is intended to open the Indian market to overseas reactor suppliers.

The deal would allow Japan to export nuclear technology to India, making it the first non-NPT (Non Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons) signatory to have such a deal with Tokyo.

As a nuclear weapon state but not a signatory of the Treaty on the Non Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, (NPT), India is able to select which of its facilities and nuclear materials are put under international safeguards.

The nuclear agreement with Japan follows a similar one with the United States in 2008 which gave India access to nuclear technology after decades of isolation.

It would also cement the bilateral economic and security ties as the two countries warm up to counter an assertive China.

Japan is a major player in the nuclear energy market and an atomic deal with it will 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.

India has already given land for nuclear plants to GE-Hitachi - which is an alliance between the US and Japanese firms - and to Toshiba's Westinghouse Electric Company.

Japan, the only country to have suffered a nuclear attack, has been demanding additional non-proliferation guarantees from India, which has a nuclear weapons programme, before exporting nuclear reactors.

A basic agreemet for the deal was reached last December when Shinzo Abe visited India. but the two countries stopped short of signing the agreement, citing outstanding technical and legal differences.

Other nations who have signed civil nuclear deal with India include the US, Russia, South Korea, Mangolia, France, Namibia, Argentina, Canada, Kazakhstan and Australia.