CANBERRA, Australia, Aug. 15 (UPI) -- Australia’s National Security Committee has approved a move to sell uranium to India.
The Australian Broadcasting Corp. reported Monday that the panel made the move during a meeting Tuesday upon the recommendation of Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer. The change in policy has not been officially declared yet.
"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,” Downer said Tuesday.
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.
