The Hindu : Front Page : “No U.S. factor in Australia’s offer”

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Aug 24, 2007
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“No U.S. factor in Australia’s offer”

P.S. Suryanarayana

Alexander Downer

SINGAPORE: Downplaying suggestions that the United States is influencing Australia’s offer of uranium exports to India, Canberra has announced its intention to strengthen trade ties with New Delhi across the board.

Australian Trade Minister Warren Truss announced the activation of a cyberspace portal to boost economic links with India.

Foreign Minister Alexander Downer, independently, clarified that Australia’s move for a nuclear safeguards accord with India, designed to facilitate the proposed sale of uranium, will not go beyond the existing international norms.

In a televised interview, Mr. Downer ruled out the idea of Australia setting up any safeguards mechanism of its own. He said, “We are talking [only] about the United Nations – the International Atomic Energy Agency – monitoring. It is [going to be] exactly the same system as we have with China, or the United Kingdom, or France, or Germany, or the U.S. – the various countries we sell uranium to.”

Asked whether the uranium offer to India was not traceable to its new civilian nuclear energy agreement with Washington, Canberra’s close ally, Mr. Downer said, “It has not anything to do with the U.S. itself” as a global power. Australia would have decided to sell uranium to India regardless of the latter’s new civilian nuclear energy pact with the U.S. Yet, the terms of that 123 agreement had encouraged Australia to define its uranium offer to India.

It “is completely absurd” to argue that Australia would sell uranium to New Delhi for its “military purposes” and it could trigger a nuclear arms race between India and Pakistan. Ruling out a uranium deal with Islamabad, he said, “The history of the A.Q. Khan [nuclear black-market] network … makes us feel very uncomfortable.”

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