Japan eyes sanctions against India over nuclear tests

TOKYO, May 12 Kyodo - Foreign Minister Keizo Obuchi summoned Indian Ambassador Siddharth Singh on Tuesday to protest India's underground nuclear testing and hinted that economic sanctions may be imposed. Obuchi told Singh during a meeting at the Diet building that the nuclear tests India conducted Monday run counter to the international ban on nuclear testing and pose a threat to regional stability, Foreign Ministry officials said. Obuchi urged New Delhi to halt nuclear weapons development, they said. India detonated three types of nuclear devices at an underground testing site Monday in the desert 550 kilometers southwest of New Delhi, the first such tests since 1974. Obuchi was quoted as saying Japan cannot help but consider taking action to curb economic cooperation. Singh defended the nuclear tests by saying India sees security surrounding the country as deteriorating because Pakistan and a nation in the north, an apparent reference to China, have improved their weapons capability. During their meeting, Obuchi also urged India to take part in the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, which was endorsed by the United Nations General Assembly in September 1996, and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. India has refused to sign both treaties. Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto told reporters that India's nuclear testing is ''very regrettable'' and that Japan will abide by the principles in its official development assistance (ODA) policy. The principles call for taking into account such factors as military spending, possession of weapons of mass destruction and the recipient nation's arms exports when considering giving aid. Hashimoto also said the issue of India's nuclear testing will be raised at the summit meeting of Group of Eight (G-8) countries scheduled for Friday to Sunday in Birmingham, England. Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Fukushiro Nukaga said the Japanese government is considering taking some action on its economic cooperation with India. ''The Japanese government thinks the G-8 nations should fully discuss the issue (India's nuclear tests) at the (May 15-17) summit meeting and send a clear message to India and the international community,'' Nukaga told a press conference. ''Given the importance of this issue, the Japanese government is planning to get in contact with Britain and other G-8 partners as early as today so that the summit meeting can take up the issue,'' he said. Asked if Japan will suspend not only grants-in-aid but also yen loans to India -- though Japan only froze grants in case of China's nuclear test a few years ago -- Nukaga said, ''Taking into account what Japan did against China, the government will consider measures (against India).'' The Social Democratic Party (SDP) requested at a meeting with its allies, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and the New Party Sakigake, that the triumvirate urge the government to scrap part of its ODA to India. The LDP, SDP and Sakigake are to discuss the issue as early as Wednesday after each party debates the matter internally. Meanwhile, Chief Cabinet Secretary Kanezo Muraoka suggested at a press conference earlier Tuesday that Japan may freeze some loans to India. Japan has been the largest aid donor to India since 1986, the officials said. Japan provided 3.5 billion yen in grants-in-aid to India for fiscal 1997, which ended March 31, but Tokyo has not yet extended 132.7 billion yen in loans for fiscal 1997. Japan is the only nation that has suffered nuclear attacks. In the closing days of World War II, the United States dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Nagasaki Mayor Itcho Ito visited the Indian Embassy in Tokyo on Tuesday to lodge a protest with the Indian government over the nuclear tests, which he called ''an outrage that ravages the wishes of victims and citizens'' in Nagasaki. Meanwhile, some 50 people gathered in front of a peace statue at Nagasaki's Peace Park to protest the tests, and Hiroshima Mayor Takashi Hiraoka sent a protest letter Tuesday to the Indian ambassador. In addition, India's consulate general in Osaka has received numerous calls and faxes of protest since Monday night, according to consulate staff members. Members of labor unions as well as citizens' groups also visited the consulate general Tuesday afternoon to hand over letters of protest.