Until recently China has focused on gaining access to foreign uranium resources, in Australia for example, to support its plans for a massive expansion of nuclear power generation. It now wants to upgrade the domestic uranium mining by attracting foreign technology and capital.

India faces huge shortages in uranium production and has no access to foreign mines until the nuclear deal with the US goes through. If it wants to maximise the exploitation of its meagre domestic uranium resources, New Delhi needs to take a leaf out of the Chinese book and end state monopoly over uranium exploration and mining.

Tiananmen politics

The 18th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party’s crackdown against the pro-democracy movement at Tiananmen Square at the heart of Beijing appears to have passed off rather quietly in China. No surprises there, given the intensity of the Beijing’s vigil against any potential protests in the first week of June every year.

In Hong Kong, where Beijing has steadily expanded its political control, the issue remains alive. A statement last month from a pro-Beijing politician saying there was no “massacre” in Tiananmen triggered protests from dissidents.

The writer is professor at the Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore