Australia revises: will give uranium to India if deal goes through

New Delhi, August 18: The world’s largest uranium supplier, Australia, seems to have softened its hawkish stance on selling nuclear material to India. While it has consistently supported the Indo-US nuclear deal given India’s energy needs, Australia’s traditional position has been to refuse uranium sales to countries India that haven’t signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Speaking to The Financial Express, Australia’s Senior Trade Commissioner for South Asia Peter Linford said that his country would be ready to supply uranium to India as soon as the NSG waiver and US Congress ratification comes through.

“Australia will support the global ratification. So, if it (the deal) gets through the American Congress, we will support that decision. So the answer to your question is yes, we can see uranium supplies to (India),” Linford said in reply to a specific query about the possibility of Australia starting uranium exports to India.

The 45-member Nuclear Suppliers Group, of which Australia is a key member, is meeting in Vienna on August 21 to consider a special waiver for India in the context of the Indo-US civilian nuclear co-operation agreement. Australia is also part of the 35-member Board of Governors’ of the International Atomic Energy Agency, which approved the India-specific safeguards agreement earlier this month.

Last month, after the UPA won the trust vote, Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith reiterated that Canberra would support the India-US nuclear deal but would not budge from its policy of “no uranium exports to non-NPT signatories.” Again, last week, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd reiterated Australia’s support to the India-US nuclear deal at the NSG meeting, while staying mum on uranium sales.

Although the previous Prime Minister John Howard had cleared the way for uranium shipments to India for peaceful purposes and electricity generation last August, this was rendered redundant by the change of guard in the Australian Government last November. Howard’s Liberal Party lost to the Labour Party.

“In this wonderful economic time, for India , the biggest barrier at the moment is probably power supply and so energy needs for India is critical. And if nuclear power is going to assist India in one part of that, then it’s a good thing,” said Linford, who is a key official in the free trade agreement talks between India and Australia .

Incidentally, the Liberals’ foreign affairs spokesperson Andrew Robb today, was quoted by agencies speaking in favour of uranium exports to India. “It was hypocritical for the government to sell uranium to countries like China and Russia which, despite being part of the pact, use uranium for weapons,” he said. Selling uranium to India would help the nation significantly reduce its greenhouse gas emissions and help deepen bilateral ties, he stressed.

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