TOKYO (AFP) India and Japans premiers Monday said they had broadly agreed on a pact to step up trade between the population giant and the high-tech nation but needed time for a deal on civilian nuclear cooperation. Indias Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his counterpart Naoto Kan also stressed the warm ties linking two of Asias biggest democracies, at a time of high diplomatic tensions between Japan and communist-ruled China. Kan said after talks with Singh, who was on a three-day Tokyo visit, that through this meeting, we were able to confirm and be confident about progress in the strategic global partnership between Japan and India. The two leaders declared the completion of talks on a free trade and investment pact, with a formal signing expected in coming months, under which tariffs on 94 percent of trade would be phased out within a decade. The deal will help Japanese auto giants, such as Suzuki, who have opened plants in India by lifting tariffs on parts, while also easing access to the market in fast-greying Japan for Indian generic drugs. We signed a joint statement confirming the conclusion of negotiations on a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement between Japan and India, said Kan after a meeting with Singh. Singh called the conclusion of talks launched in 2007 a historic achievement which would open up new business opportunities. They also agreed to cooperate in fields as diverse as stabilising Afghanistan, combating climate change, safeguarding biodiversity, and pushing UN reforms and global free trade efforts, a joint statement said. However, another key deal sought by New Delhi, on civilian nuclear cooperation, remained beyond reach with the leaders only saying they encouraged their officials to arrive at a mutually satisfactory agreement... at an early date. Japan and India launched negotiations in June on a pact that would allow Tokyo to export its cutting-edge nuclear technology to the energy-hungry South Asian nation, a hotly contested market for atomic plants. But Japan - the only country to have suffered atomic bombings and a key voice in global denuclearisation efforts - is worried that nuclear-armed India has not signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. The start of talks on civilian nuclear cooperation brought cries of protest in Japan from survivors of the US atomic bombings of the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in the final days of World War II. Kan said that we agreed to speed up negotiations for civil nuclear energy cooperation, while seeking Indias understanding of our countrys sentiment as a nuclear-bombed nation. Singh reiterated Indias commitment to a unilateral and voluntary moratorium on nuclear explosive testing and both sides underscored the importance of peaceful uses of nuclear energy and of further strengthening the nuclear non-proliferation efforts, their joint statement said.