Dr Singh had a telephonic conversation with Kan yesterday during which he expressed deepest condolences over the loss of life and property in Japan consequent to the recent earthquake and tsunami, the Ministry of External Affairs said in a release in New Delhi on Thursday.
United States President Barack Obama on Friday telephoned Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan to discuss the massive earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan and killed over 360 people, as the Pentagon geared up for a possible relief and rescue operation in affected areas.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh arrived in Tokyo on the first leg of his three-nation visit, during which he would hold talks with his Japanese counterpart Naoto Kan on a range of issues, including civil nuclear energy cooperation.
Japan will freeze plans to build new atomic facilities and carry out a thorough review of its nuclear energy policy, Prime Minister Naoto Kan said on Monday, as robots engaged at the crippled Fukushima plant measured the new radiation level as "tough" for workers.
Another explosion rocked the Fukushima nuclear power plant in northern Japan on Tuesday, as the country continued to face the threat of a nuclear meltdown.
Referring to their ties with China, India and Japan on Monday agreed that it was essential to engage China in a closer, more open and productive dialogue as both Tokyo and New Delhi are desirous of peace in the region. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Japanese counterpart Naoto Kan discussed the issue of boundary disputes with China -- while India faces border issues over land, Japan is engaged in a maritime territorial row -- in Tokyo.
India and Japan adopted a mutually acceptable stance, in Tokyo on Monday, to speed up negotiations on a civil nuclear agreement, resolving to bring it to fruition at the earliest.
Thnew deal will likely usher in a new era of cooperation and broad-basing of economic relationship between the two Asian powers.
As hectic efforts were on to contain Japan's worst atomic crisis, police in protective gear on Thursday for the first time launched a search for tsunami victims in a 10-km zone around a radiation-leaking nuclear plant while Premier Naoto Kan vowed to rebuild the nation amid growing opposition calls for him to quit.
Workers attempting to salvage Japan's tsunami hit Fukushima nuclear reactor had to be evacuated after smoke was seen billowing in a latest in a series of troubles to hit the moves to stabilise the radiation leaking plant.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday offered India's readiness to help Japan hit by a devastating earthquake and tsunami, saying, "Our resources are at your disposal." "India stands in full solidarity with the government and people of Japan at this hour," he said in a letter to his Japanese counterpart Naoto Kan.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Sunday in an interview to the Japanese media in Tokyo that India is confident of signing a 'win-win' civilian nuclear deal with Japan and is looking forward to a comprehensive economic partnership agreement to boost bilateral trade.
The centerpiece of the PM's visit is a long-awaited Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement that has been through several fits and starts, including bureaucratic obduracy in Delhi.
But even as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh plans to visit Tokyo for his annual summit from October 25-27 -- as part of a journey to Hanoi and Kuala Lumpur -- and hopes to sign a landmark civil nuclear pact with his counterpart, Naoto Kan, Japanese resentment against India's nuclear ambitions continues to simmer.
Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan has admitted that there will be a long-term battle to stabilise Japan's crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. The Japanese government has also indicated that it may take a long time before residents of towns and villages close to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear reactor are able to return to their homes.