In a breakthrough for India?s civil nuclear initiative, Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard on Tuesday pitched for lifting a long-standing ban on export of uranium to the country.
?I believe the time has come for the Labor Party to change this position … Selling uranium to India will be good for the Australian economy and good for Australian jobs,? she told reporters in Canberra.
New Delhi quickly hailed the move, saying it was a recognition of its impeccable non-proliferation credentials.
Gillard said she would urge her party members at next month’s national meet to reverse the ban , bringing Australia in line with America’s thinking. Her proposal comes on the eve of US President Barack Obama’s visit to Australia.
“India is our fourth biggest export market, a market worth nearly $16 billion to Australia, with enormous potential to grow as India becomes wealthier,” Gillard said. “As India rises and brings hundreds of millions of people out of poverty it will need more energy,” she added.
Gillard said Australia faced a unique set of opportunities in what she called the ‘Asian century’. “India as a rising giant will be part of that strong economic growth,” she said.
Earlier, writing a column in leading Australian dailies, Gillard pushed for lifting the ban 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 said in the Sydney Morning Herald.
For the past four years, the Labour government has linked uranium exports to India signing the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
New Delhi, which has been pressing Australia to lift the ban since the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) opened its doors for global nuclear commerce in September 2008, was quick to hail the new initiative. ” We welcome Julia Gillard’s proposal to seek a change in the Labour Party’s policies and sale of uranium to India in recognition of our energy needs, our impeccable record in non-proliferation and the two country’s strategic partnership,” said external affairs minister SM Krishna in Bangalore, adding New Delhi attached great importance to its ties with Canberra .
The reversal in Canberra’s stand appears to have come after some straight talk between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Gillard on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Cannes early this month.