Australia, Prime Minister Julia Gillard
“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.
Gillard said she will urge her party members at next month’s national meet to reverse a ban on uranium exports to India, bringing Australia into line with America’s thinking.
India welcomed the move, with External Affairs Minister S M Krishna saying that New Delhi attaches great importance to its ties with Canberra which are growing across the board.
“We welcome Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s proposal to seek a change in Australia’s Labor Party’s policies and sale of uranium to India in recognition of our energy needs for the impeccable record in non-proliferation and strategic partnership between two nations,” he told reporters in Bangalore.
“India is our fourth biggest export markets, a market worth nearly USD 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 said.
“We are a very big supplier of uranium so having access to this new and growing market is good for Australian jobs.”
Gillard said lifting the ban was another step forward in Australia’s relationship with India.
It came at a time when 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. .
Australia is the world’s third largest supplier of uranium, which contributed more than USD 750 million to the economy and created more than 4,200 jobs.
India was expected to increase its use of nuclear power from the current 3 per cent of electricity generation to 40 per cent by 2050, Gillard said.
The Australian prime minister declared that it is “time for Labor to modernize our platform and enable us to strengthen our connection with dynamic, democratic India.”
Her remarks indicate a major shift in Australia’s policy with regard to uranium sale to a country which is not a signatory to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty (NPT).
She said India was in a class of its own, unlike Israel and Pakistan. The three countries have not signed the treaty.
“As in other areas, broadening our markets will increase jobs. 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 undertakings and transparency measures that will provide assurances our uranium will be used only for peaceful purposes,” she said.
“One of our nearest neighbors is India. Long a close partner. The world’s biggest democracy. Growing at 8 per cent a year. Yet despite the links of language, heritage and democratic values, in one important regard we treat India differently. We will not sell India uranium for peaceful purposes – though Canada is preparing to – while policy allows us to export it to countries such as China, Japan and the United States,” the Australian prime minister said.
“Just as I have said to the nation that we must analyze and understand the opportunities and challenges of this Asian century, the Labor Party too has to focus on our long-term economic goals and be prepared to confront difficult questions about maximizing prosperity and the strength of our relationships in our region of the world,” she said. -PTI
