Okada to visit India, Thailand to talk nuke pact, journalist's death

TOKYO, Aug. 20, 2010 (Kyodo News International) -- Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada said Friday he will make a five-day trip to India and Thailand to discuss issues such as a bilateral civilian nuclear cooperation pact with New Delhi and a probe into the death of a Japanese cameraman amid violent clashes in Bangkok.

Okada, who will leave Japan later in the day, is scheduled to hold talks with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna on Saturday and Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya on Monday.

Before his departure, Okada told a press conference in Tokyo that he is also ready to take up bilateral negotiations on concluding a free trade agreement during his strategic dialogue with Krishna.

Japan and India have been negotiating the free trade deal since January 2007 and the two countries are expected to reach a basic accord during Singh's visit to Japan scheduled for later this year, according to sources close to the matter.

The two countries also launched in late June talks on signing the civilian nuclear pact, which will allow Japan to export its nuclear power generation technology and related equipment to India.

But the move has triggered an outcry from survivors of the 1945 U.S. atomic bomb attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, because India has developed nuclear arms without signing the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Okada told the news conference that he will ''candidly convey to India critical public opinions in Japan'' regarding the bilateral nuclear cooperation deal and urge New Delhi to make efforts toward nuclear disarmament and nonproliferation.

Noting that India and Japan share the ultimate goal of eliminating nuclear weapons, the Japanese minister said he will discuss with Indian ministers how the two countries can cooperate in implementing concrete steps to realize that aim.

In Thailand, Okada is expected to call on Thai ministers once again for a full accounting and investigation of the shooting death of Japan-based Reuters television cameraman Hiroyuki Muramoto in April amid violent clashes between security forces and antigovernment protesters in the Thai capital.

He will also seek assistance for Japanese companies that sustained damage during the violent demonstrations, Japanese officials said.

Muramoto, 43, died after being shot in the chest while filming clashes in Bangkok on April 10.

Okada is also scheduled to discuss with Thai ministers the development of the Mekong region encompassing Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam, the officials said.