Australia plans to lift ban on uranium sale

Melbourne/Bengaluru: In a dramatic policy reversal, Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard yesterday signalled a plan to lift a long-standing ban on uranium sales to India and pushed her Labor Party to change its stance, citing New Delhi's growing economy and its ambitious atomic energy plans.

India quickly hailed the move, saying it was a recognition of its "impeccable non-proliferation credentials" and growing energy needs.

In a surprise turnaround, Gillard wrote a column in leading Australian dailies in which she pushed for lifting an embargo that has shadowed relations with the world's biggest democracy.

"We must, of course, expect of India the same standards we do of all countries for uranium export — strict adherence to International Atomic Energy Agency arrangements and strong bilateral and transparency measures which will provide assurances our uranium will be used only for peaceful purposes," Gillard wrote in the Sydney Morning Herald.

For the past four years, the Labor government has linked uranium exports to India signing the 1970 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. New Delhi refuses to sign the NPT as it considers it discriminatory and a ploy to deprive it of its nuclear deterrence.

In the end, however, stronger relations with a democratic India armed with a growing economy seem to have won the day.

Dynamic nation

"It is time for [ruling] Labor to modernise our platform and enable us to strengthen our connection with dynamic, democratic India," Gillard said ahead of the Labor Party's conference next month.

Gillard also held a press conference in Melbourne and pushed her colleagues in the ruling Labor Party to change their stand on selling uranium to India and cited three reasons for doing so.

Firstly, Gillard argued that selling uranium to India "will be good for the Australian economy and good for Australian jobs".

Gillard went on to add that India plans to increase the share of nuclear power from its current three per cent of electricity generation to 40 per cent by 2050 — a fact that should benefit Australia which is the world's third largest supplier of uranium. Uranium contributes over $750 million to the Australian economy, creating over 4,200 jobs.

Secondly, she said the uranium sale will be "another step forward" in Australia's relationship with India, the world's largest democracy and a rising economic giant.

Thirdly, she argued that the US-India civil nuclear agreement has effectively lifted the de-facto international ban on cooperation with India in this area and added that in view of changed global circumstances, "for us to refuse to budge is all pain with no gain and I believe that our national platform should recognise that reality".