Ahead of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe?s visit to India, Japan has promised to contribute positively to New Delhi?s negotiations with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) on the Indo-US nuclear deal and hoped this country would be forthcoming in providing relevant information to conduct the discussions.

Talking to the mediapersons today, Hiroshige Seko, Special Advisor to the Japanese Prime Minister, said, ?We understand India?s deep interest in developing peaceful nuclear energy and securing its stable supply. Given the climate change and that Japan has cutting edge technology in developing nuclear power, we will look into the issue closely.?

He said he was hopeful that India would be ?forthcoming? in providing relevant information in terms of securing transparency during the discussions on the issue.

Expressing concern over nuclear proliferation, Seko said ?it was extremely important to see how we can strike a balance? while engaging in nuclear trade as Japanese people are sensitive towards it.

Despite the political crises in Japan and India, he was confident that the bilateral ties between will be taken forward by successive governments.

?It is a fact that both prime ministers face difficult political situation but I am confident that the agreements that come out will be passed on to the future governments,? he said.

The visit is also expected to provide a fresh thrust to the negotiations between the two sides to conclude a comprehensive economic partnership agreement that will multiply their bilateral trade manifold.

According to Seko, the visit would also be significant from the academic point of view as for the first time top academics from leading educational bodies including IIT, IIM, Indian Institute of Science and Jawaharlal Nehru University will interact with their Japanese counterparts to discuss future course of academic exchanges.

Abe will be accompanied by vice-chancellors of 12 leading Japanese universities and top academics who will hold talks with their Indian counterparts on starting exchange programmes and research projects between the two countries.

The initiative comes at a time when the Japanese government has launched a Grand Programme of Youth Exchange for the 21st Century and decided to invite 500 youth from India every year to pursue higher studies in varsities in Japan.