Declaration of protest against the House of Councilors approving the India-Japan Nuclear Cooperation Agreement
7 June 2017
To: Mr. Shinzo Abe, Prime Minister of Japan
: Mr. Fumio Kishida, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Japan
From: Campaign Opposing the Ratification of the India-Japan Nuclear Cooperation Agreement by the Japanese Parliament
Today the coalition government (Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito) voted to approve the adoption of the India-Japan Nuclear Cooperation Agreement.
We, the Campaign Opposing the Ratification of the India-Japan Nuclear Cooperation Agreement by the Japanese Parliament, strongly condemn this reckless action.
The pitifully short time it was debated by both houses of parliament is undeniable and there are many grave flaws in this Agreement. By ratifying this Agreement, Japan is legitimizing India’s nuclear weapons development. The government is trampling over 70 years of effort on the part of the Japanese people to eliminate nuclear weapons.
Furthermore, it will mean that Japan will be aiding the brutal repression of the rights and destruction of the environment of the Indian citizens who live on and near proposed sites for nuclear power plant construction.
It is already abundantly clear that, Toshiba, which is in financial crisis, as well as other nuclear industry corporations such as Hitachi and Mitsubishi are in no condition to actively pursue overseas contracts for nuclear power plants. It was completely unnecessary to approve this Agreement with such haste and time should have been taken in Parliament to identify and rectify all of the problems in the present Agreement.
We also stand in protest at the steamrolling of this bill through parliament and vow to continue the fight to prevent export of nuclear technology, together with Members of Parliament, citizen groups and individuals from across Japan as well as Indian citizens.