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| No uranium sales to India: Kevin Rudd |
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Saturday, November 14, 2009
NEW DELHI: Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd insisted on Thursday that his country will not sell uranium to India because it has not signed the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty.
Australia’s refusal to sell uranium to energy-starved India has remained a sticking point since the Nuclear Suppliers’ Group, an informal body that governs global nuclear trade, last year lifted a moratorium on sales to New Delhi.
Rudd is on a two-day visit to India, where the twin issues of uranium sales and racial attacks on Indian students in Australia have become major irritants despite fast-growing bilateral trade.
The earlier Australian government led by John Howard’s Labour Party had promised to sell uranium to India. But Rudd reversed the policy after his government took over in December 2007.
India, which conducted nuclear tests in 1974 and 1998, has a pressing need for uranium to fuel its nuclear power plants.
It has refused to sign the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty, saying it discriminates against countries that carried out tests after the treaty came into force.
Rudd stressed on Thursday that the ban on uranium sales was the result of a long-standing policy and Australia was not singling out India.
“Australia has a long-standing position on the export of uranium to countries that are not party to the non-proliferation treaty. This is not a policy directed against India,’’ he said.
Australia is the world’s third largest producer of uranium, behind Canada and Kazakhstan.
Rudd was equally firm on his government’s commitment to stop racially motivated attacks on foreign students studying in Australia.
“I am deeply disturbed and disgusted by the attacks and violence against any students. These attacks will not be tolerated,’’ he told the Indian Council of World Affairs, a government-run think tank in New Delhi. “The Australian government is committed to do all that is physically possible to ensure that all international students in Australia have a safe and rewarding experience,’’ Rudd said.
Later, at a meeting, Rudd assured India’s Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that his government would use the full force of Australian laws to protect Indian students and stop further attacks.
There are about 97,000 Indian students in Australia, and Australian universities have been campaigning hard in recent years to entice more Indians to come to the country to obtain college or professional degrees. The two countries also share common concerns about a rising China and its implications for security in the Asia-Pacific region.
“It is crucial that the shifts in economic power from west to east do not open the door to instability and conflict,’’ Rudd said, in an apparent reference to China’s growing economic and political influence in the region.
Defence cooperation, maritime security in the Indian Ocean region and combating terrorism have emerged as a major areas where the two democracies are working together, he said.
However, the most positive outcome in the bilateral relationship has been the spurt in trade.
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ISSN 1563-9479 
