CANBERRA, Australia, Aug. 14 (UPI) -- Australia looks set to end its ban on selling uranium to India if New Delhi’s civilian nuclear deal with Washington is approved.
Foreign Minister Alexander Downer recommended to the country’s National Security Committee that the ban on uranium exports to India be lifted.
"We would first of all have to negotiate a nuclear safeguards agreement with India and under that agreement any uranium that would be exported to India would have to be subject to International Atomic Energy Agency monitoring and so would the nuclear power plants that the uranium was used for,” he said.
The comments were reported by the Australian Broadcasting Corp.
Until now, uranium suppliers such as Australia have only sold the material to nations that have signed the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty. India, which possesses nuclear weapons, refuses to sign the pact. The United States has made an exception for India in its civilian nuclear agreement.
Both the U.S. Congress and the Indian government’s coalition allies need to approve the deal, which has been criticized by non-proliferation advocates in the West and those in India who say the country has given up sovereignty over its nuclear program.
