In a clear shift from its predecessor's stand, Australia's new government on Tuesday said that it will not sell uranium to India until the country signs the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith conveyed this to Shyam Saran, a Special Envoy of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, in their talks held in Perth. "We went into the election with the strong policy commitment that we will not export uranium to nation states who are not members of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty," said Smith.
The policy of the new Labour government, headed by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, is in contradiction to the previous John Howard administration's plans to start negotiating a uranium trade with India.
Smith described his talks with Saran as a good and friendly meeting, which included discussions on bilateral trade and the recent cricket dispute between the two nations. "The Australian government is very much looking forward to taking the relationship with India to an even better level," he said.
Last month, the Australian Foreign Minister had stated that one of Labour's priorities would be adding depth and vigour to its relationship with India. However, Smith said that his government's position on uranium sale did not surprise the Indian special envoy.
Last year, the previous federal government struck an in-principle agreement with India to sell uranium to the country. The deal was to be subject to strict conditions, including guarantees that the uranium would be used for power generation only, despite India not being a signatory to the NPT.
An Indian High Commission spokesman said he was not aware of the details of the Smith-Saran meeting.
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