Setting aside past indifference, India and Australia have announced their decision to enter into civil nuclear cooperation by negotiating a safeguards agreement which will facilitate export of uranium to India.
After official talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Australian PM Julia Gillard said this decision meant a lot to her personally as only last year, her Labour Party had overturned the ban on selling uranium to India.
The actual supply of uranium, however, may take a couple of years as negotiations for the safeguards agreement are expected to be complex and lengthy. It is essential for Australia to sign such an agreement before it can start shipping uranium to any country.
The two countries also signed four agreements – including one for student mobility and welfare – and agreed to hold annual meetings at the summit level, either bilaterally or during multilateral events.
According to a joint statement issued after the talks, Gillard noted India's sound nonproliferation record and expressed Australia’s recognition of the importance of India's engagement with the four multilateral export control regimes with the objective of full membership.
No comments:
Post a Comment