The Hindu : Front Page : India, Australia to discuss uranium supply issue

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Mar 07, 2006

Front Page

Front Page

India, Australia to discuss uranium supply issue

Amit Baruah

No intention now to change policy, says John Howard

STRIKING A RAPPORT: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh receives his Australian counterpart, John Howard, at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi on Monday. — Photo: V.V. Krishnan

NEW DELHI: India and Australia have agreed that a group of officials will discuss a possible supply of uranium to New Delhi. Canberra has, however, ruled out any immediate change in its stand — not supplying uranium to countries which are not party to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

"We don't alter policy at press conferences," the visiting Prime Minister, John Howard, said after talks with his Indian counterpart, Manmohan Singh, at Hyderabad House here on Monday. The two leaders witnessed the signing of six agreements, including one accord on defence cooperation.

Earlier, Reuters quoted Mr. Howard as having said: "We do have a long-standing policy of selling uranium only to countries that are part of the NPT regime, but we will have a look at what the Americans have done [with the Indians] and when we get a bit more information about that we'll further assess it."

"Australia does have large supplies of uranium ... and provided the rules are followed and the safeguards are met, we are willing to sell, but we have to be satisfied about safeguards," Mr. Howard said late on Sunday.

Asked about those remarks, he said on Monday there was no "current intention" of changing the policy. "We are, however, interested in what the Americans and the Indians have agreed to. There are a lot of good things about that agreement ... in particular for the first time India's civilian nuclear facilities will come under international inspections. But the Indian-American agreement in itself is no reason for us to change our policy and I have said that, Mr. Downer has said it, but we will listen to what the Indians have said ... "

"We're short of uranium"

Speaking at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Dr. Singh said: "We would very much like Australia to sell uranium to India."

Earlier, in an interview to an Australian newspaper, he said: "I hope Australia will be an important partner in this. We are short of uranium. We need to import uranium and our needs will increase in the years to come.

"I very much hope that Australia, as a member of the Nuclear Suppliers' Group, would endorse what I and President Bush have worked out. This is an arrangement, which helps the cause of nuclear non-proliferation. India has an impeccable record of not entering into any unauthorised arms proliferation," he said.

Australia, with 29 per cent of the world's medium-cost uranium reserves, operates three mines.

Australia has a special problem since it supplies uranium to non-nuclear weapon states or nuclear weapon states. India does not fit into either category under the NPT. For nuclear weapon states, Australian uranium must be covered under a safeguards agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency.

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