Aso, who will be meeting Singh in Tokyo on Wednesday, hoped that India would stick to its unilateral moratorium on atomic tests and “implement” commitments made to the NSG for securing the waiver that ended its 34-year nuclear apartheid.

In an e-mail interview, Aso did not directly respond to whether Tokyo would allow Japanese nuclear power companies to engage in nuclear commerce with India but highlighted that Japanese nuclear power industry was strong and had proven credentials.

The Japanese government had boldly supported the Indo-US civil nuclear deal at the 45-member Nuclear Suppliers Group(NSG) despite a public outcry in the only nation to have suffered atomic bombings during World War II.

On the proposed Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between the two countries, he said “substantative progress” has been made in their negotiations.

“EPA is one of the most important issues. I would like EPA to become the trigger for further development of the economic relations between Japan and India, Aso said.

“In order to do so, EPA needs to be of a high quality and beneficial to both countries.” He also expressed confidence that Singh’s visit to Japan will give a “renewed momentum” to the enhancement of bilateral relations.

The Japanese PM said the EPA will become the “trigger” for expanding bilateral economic ties.

“We have seen substantive progress in our EPA negotiations and I am looking forward to discuss this matter with Prime Minister Singh, based on the negotiations the two countries have had so far,” he said.

India and Japan have been negotiating a EPA for the last two years with an objective of giving a boost to the USD 10 billion bilateral trade by way of eliminating and slashing duties on as much as 90 per cent of the goods and services traded between the Asian countries.

Describing the Indian market as “quite huge,” Aso said it has been growing at an astonishing pace in recent times.

“The Japanese companies are keenly watching its development.” Aso, who responded to questions on a wide gamut of important issues, said “Japan thinks the most important thing is that, in order to maintain and strengthen the international non-proliferation system, India will implement its commitments and actions which presuppose the NSG Statement, including the continuation of its unilateral moratorium on nuclear testing.” “Japan has pursued steadily the construction of nuclear power plants, while making an effort to conform with and ensure 3S, i.e. Non-proliferation/Safeguards, Nuclear Safety and Nuclear Security, and seeking international understanding and trust,” he said.