Thursday, 16 August, 2007

by Angela Macdonald-Smith and Gemma Daley
Bloomberg

Australian Prime Minister John Howard will talk to his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh today to discuss conditions that would allow uranium shipments to the South Asian nation.

India will have to negotiate an agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency before Australia implements an in-principle decision taken this week to end a ban on shipments of the radioactive metal to the country, Howard said in Canberra.

Australia, holder of the world's biggest known uranium reserves, has previously refused to sell the nuclear fuel to India because the South Asian country hasn't signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. The potential policy reversal follows a civilian nuclear accord last month between the U.S. and India, which would allow the sale of American technology and fuel to help Singh's government boost power generation.

"India will have to negotiate an understanding with the IAEA," Howard told reporters today. "And there has to be a satisfactory finalization of the negotiations between India and the U.S.," he said. "I hope to talk to the Indian prime minister about this issue later today and I believe the sort of conditions we have in mind will meet any concerns."

Perennial Safeguards

The accord between the U.S. and India has further steps to clear before it takes effect. India has to reach an agreement with the IAEA for inspections of a reprocessing site for spent atomic fuel.

The Nuclear Suppliers Group, a 45-nation forum dedicated to limiting the spread of atomic weapons, has to approve the agreement. After that, President George W. Bush will submit the accord to Congress for approval, attempting to overcome concerns that India's nuclear weapons program would benefit from it.

The text of the bilateral accord, a key element of President Bush's foreign policy, has drawn criticism from India's federal opposition, the Bharatiya Janata Party, or BJP, and Communist allies of the ruling coalition. The groupings, otherwise bitter political rivals, have accused the government of mortgaging the South Asian nation's strategic interests to secure the alliance.

Singh told federal lawmakers Aug. 13 that India, which first tested a nuclear device in 1974, retains the right to conduct such exercises in the future. Within hours, State Department Spokesman Sean McCormack said provisions of the bilateral accord, the so-called 123 agreement, has provisions to impose punitive action on India if the nation were to test weapons, the Times of India reported.

The text of the bilateral agreement steers clear of any specific reference to nuclear tests or the impact of such tests on fuel supplies.

The accord gives India reprocessing rights in facilities under global safeguards. It leaves India's military program out of its purview, while promising uninterrupted fuel supplies to the civilian nuclear program.