Japan woos Indian firms to mend strained ties

Japan woos Indian firms to mend strained ties

BANGALORE, India (Reuters): Japanese Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori called on Tuesday for greater cooperation between Japanese and Indian technology firms to bolster a relationship soured by New Delhi's nuclear tests.

The first Japanese premier to visit the world's second-most populous country since 1990, Mori wasted no time in calling for nuclear-capable rivals India and Pakistan to sign the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT).

"It is extremely important that both India and Pakistan sign the CTBT towards preventing nuclear proliferation," he told The Times of India before embarking on his three-day tour of India. "I hope to see progress during my visit."

Japan, the only country to have suffered a nuclear attack when the United States dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, was among the most critical of the tit-for-tat nuclear tests conducted by India and Pakistan in 1998.

Japan cut development aid to both countries in response.

But putting aside controversy to court India's emerging prowess in the software industry, Mori began his visit in the country's hi-tech capital, Bangalore.

Mori said he would propose the establishment of a "Japan-India IT Promotion and Cooperation Initiative" when he meets Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee in New Delhi, where he was scheduled to arrive on Tuesday evening.

But, still finding a link back to the nuclear issue, he said increased science and technology cooperation between Japan and India would lead to peace and prosperity.

"Science and technology have created weapons of mass destruction capable of killing thousands of people," he said. "We appeal we should never allow people to use these weapons."

Mori began with visits to two of India's most celebrated software firms, Infosys Technologies Ltd and Wipro Ltd.

Japan faces a shortage of 200,000 IT professionals, and Japanese officials hope to overcome this shortage by recruiting Indian engineers and increasing Indian software exports to Japan.

Indian software industry officials say that India's software exports to Japan are likely to increase to $300 million in fiscal 2000/01 (April-March) from $160 million in the previous year.

Under the proposed IT initiative, Japan will expand its training programs for Indian engineers on Japanese business practices and the Japanese language, and plans to train 1,000 workers over the next three years.

Mori said Japan will soon permit multiple-entry business visas for short-stay visits from India.

Indian software industry officials had listed difficult Japanese visa policies as one of the main irritants preventing them from expanding business with Japan.