TOKYO (REUTERS) - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi agreed at a summit on Monday to accelerate talks on a nuclear energy pact, the two leaders said in a joint statement.

Mr Modi, on his first major foreign visit since a landslide election win in May, arrived on Saturday for a five-day trip aimed at capitalising on a personal affinity with Mr Abe to bolster security and business ties in the face of an assertive China.

Hopes of clinching a nuclear energy accord similar to one reached with the United States in 2008 had faded in the run-up to the visit.

Japan wants explicit guarantees from India, which has not signed the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, to limit atomic tests and allow closer inspection of its facilities to ensure that spent fuel is not used to make bombs.

Japanese firms also want clarity on nuclear disaster compensation, especially in the wake of the March 2011 Fukushima catastrophe.