Friday, March 3 2006 12:51 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Tokyo: Sounding upbeat on the Indo-US nuclear deal, Japan today(Mar 3,2006) said it would be 'wrong' to compare the Indian nuclear programme with that of North Korea.

"It would be wrong to discuss India's nuclear issue on the same basis as North Korea's," Chief Cabinet Secretary and government spokesman Shinzo Abe told reporters here.

Abe said Japan understood the strategic importance of India and the significance of meeting its energy demand.

"It should be meaningful that India and the United States held dialogue and agreed in various areas as India, the US and Japan share the values of freedom, democracy, basic human rights and the rule of law," he said.

Abe was asked whether Japan was adopting double standards by urging North Korea to return to the Non-Proliferation Treaty but not pressing India.

"North Korea is suspected of violating the 1994 agreement in the first place and the issue of its nuclear (ambitions) has since posed a grave concern to the international community," he said.

Abe said, "Japan will keep a close eye on international efforts on nuclear arms reduction and non-proliferation based on the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty."

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and US President George W Bush yesterday(Mar 3,2006) agreed in New Delhi on the framework of implementation of Indo-US nuclear deal reached between them in July last year.