Australia rules out selling uranium to India

Natasha Chaku

Melbourne, Apr 6 (PTI) Australia on Tuesday ruled out
the prospect of selling uranium to India, saying its stand on
the issue remains unchanged as the country is a non-signatory
to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

Australian Trade Minister Simon Crean ruled out a
change in the policy. "There is no prospect for a change," he
told reporters in Canberra.
"We have consistently said, made this clear to India
that we, because of our policy cannot supply to countries that
are non-signatories to the non proliferation treaty," he was
quoted as saying by AAP.
The report quoted Commerce and Industry Minister of
India Anand Sharma stating that India needed uranium to secure
the "clean" energy source for its population.
Despite the fact Australia sells uranium only to
Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) signatories, Sharma
said India had a good record on the issue and should be helped
in its goal to cut greenhouse gases.
Meanwhile, Indian-origin journalist Edmond Roy of
Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is currently in the
US working on a critical research project to examine the
Australian government's policy on uranium sales to India.
According to Woodrow Wilson Centre statement, with
the recent appointment of Roy as a Wilson Centre Australian
Scholar, he will spend the next three months in the Centre
beginning last month working on the project.
Roy has been working as the associate producer of
the ABC radio show PM and was previously the presenter of the
Australian Network television show Asia-Pacific Focus.
He holds a master’s degree from the University of
Kerala.
During his time at the Wilson Centre, Roy will
examine the ways in which successive Australian governments
have used the arguments related to the nuclear
non-proliferation regime, as well as Canberra's strategic,
military and ideological concerns, to prevent Australian
uranium sales to India.
His Wilson Centre project will explain India’s
options, given its growing need for energy, and ask whether
Australia can sustain this policy in the years ahead.
He will also examine possible changes to the policy
in light of the Indo-US nuclear agreement, and the deal's
impact on Indo-Australian relations, the statement said.
The Australian Scholar program is the counterpoint
of the Woodrow Wilson Centre’s enhanced emphasis on Australia
and US. PTI NC
AHM