Ishiba arrived in New Delhi on Saturday and will hold official talks Sunday.

Earlier this week, Indian sources said the talks between Ishiba and Fernandes would "naturally" swing toward New Delhi's accusations that arch-rival Pakistan swapped nuclear weapons for North Korean missile technology.

Pakistan, which vehemently denies helping North Korea build nuclear bombs, is also accused by India of arming and training Islamic guerrillas in the Himalayan territory of Kashmir.

Japan has urged India and Pakistan -- both of which revealed their nuclear capabilities in 1998 -- to sign the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.

On Sunday an Indian official said India's new peace initiative with Pakistan may also be discussed by Fernandes and Ishiba.

Talks between the two nuclear rivals have been suspended since August 2001, but Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee offered on April 18 to resume discussions with Pakistan on their disputes, including Kashmir.

New Delhi announced Friday it would resume diplomatic ties and air links with Islamabad, and a day later Pakistani Prime Minister Zafarullah Jamali officially invited Vajpayee to Islamabad for talks.

New Delhi-based diplomats said a flurry of visits to India by Japanese leaders, which began in 2000, were part of a strategic relationship Tokyo was seeking to build.

In 2000, then-Japanese prime minister Yoshiro Mori toured India, opening the path for stepped up visits between the two nations.

Japan is India's largest donor of overseas aid.

SPACE.WIRE