Uranium supply depends on Indo-US N-deal: Australia

Australian High Commissioner to India John McCarthy while delivering a talk on “Australia’s New Government and Asia” at Observer Research Foundation (ORF) in New Delhi on Tuesday, said that the Australia’s denial for the sale of uranium to India was because of Labour government which has assume power there as not supplying Uranium to non signatories of Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty (NNPT) was Labour’s pre election manifesto.

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Earlier this month Australia’s message for India came as a shock when Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said clearly that it won’t supply Uranium to India as India is a non signatory of the treaty. India has refused to sign the NNPT because it held this treaty as being discriminatory as it allows other countries to retain nuclear weapons.

“The government is going to consider its position on the NSG. Some countries are in favour and some are opposed. Our position is still to be considered by the Ministers,” added High Commissioner on Australia’s stand on NSG.

“It is true that the previous government had said it would supply uranium to India. This government had a policy before the elections. It was restated to Indian Special Envoy Shyam Saran very clearly. But it doesn’t mean we like India any less than the previous government. The government is trying to say that India is very important but uranium is a problem for us,” he said.

He pointed that Australia’s stand remain undecided and it will depend on the Indo-US nuclear deal.

“The 123 agreement is dependent on a number of factors like the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) approval, approval from the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), consent from the US Congress and the domestic political situation in India agreeing to the substance of the deal,” McCarthy added.

He opined that such deal can make a positive difference to these two countries but also went on clarifying that Australia is unlikely to change its policy against not supplying Uranium to non signatories of NNPT. Also that Labour government has overturned the former Prime Minister John Howard inclination to supply India with Uranium.

Australia with world’s largest reserve with 40 % world’s total production exports uranium to many countries including the five nuclear weapons states US, UK, France, Russia and China. Among the member 189 NPT countries India, Pakistan, Israel and North Korea are the countries who have not signed the treaty.