Melbourne, January 15
In a clear shift from its predecessor’s stand, Australia’s new government today said it would not sell uranium to India until the country signs the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Australian foreign minister Stephen Smith conveyed this to Shyam Saran, a special envoy of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, in their talks held in Perth.
“We went into the election with a strong policy commitment we would not export uranium to nation states who are not members of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT),” Smith told reporters after his meeting with Saran.
The policy of new Labour government headed by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd is in contradiction to the previous John Howard administration’s plans to start negotiating uranium trade with India.
Smith described his talks with Saran as a “good and friendly meeting,” which included discussions on bilateral trade and the recent cricket dispute between the two nations.
“Australian government is very much looking
forward to taking the relationship with India to an even better level,” he said.
The Australian foreign minister, who had last month stated that one of Labour’s priorities would be adding “depth and vigour” to its relationship with India, said his government’s position on uranium sale did not surprise the Indian special envoy.
Last year, the previous federal government struck an in-principle agreement with India to sell uranium to the country. The deal was to be subject to strict conditions, including guarantees the uranium would be used for power generation only, despite India not being a signatory to NPT. An Indian High Commission spokesman said he was not aware of the details of the Smith-Saran meeting.
— PTI
