INDIA AND JAPAN SIGNS CIVIL NUCLEAR DEAL TODAY.{PHOTOS}.

                     Today friday India signed a nuclear deal with Japan during the annual bilateral summit held in Tokyo.Sealing the deal was the high point of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ongoing visit to Japan.The PM issued a media statement describing it as a ''historic step''.The nuclear deal which will help India access Japan's nuclear market,had been under negotiation for six years and was firmed up during the 2015 visit of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to India when principles of the agreement were frozen.However,the final seal on the text had to wait legislative clearance from Japan.The deal is significant as it will help guarantee Japan's continued support to India's civil nuclear programme.Apart from the Russian reactors,the planned nuclear rectors with France and Us depend on Japaneses parts.That apart,GE,Westinghouse,and Areva,the companies planning reactors in India have important ownership stakes of Japanese companies Hitachi,Toshibi and Mitsubishi ,that were stopped from doing business with India without a final nuclear deal.Negotiation on the deal began in 2010 during the UPA government however the negotiations were stuck on India's non-membership status in non-proliferation treaty {NPT}.However ,friday's  conclusion of the deal made India the first non-NPT signatory to have a civil nuclear deal with Japan.More photos below.