Thursday, 31 August, 2006

ABC News Online

The Government's strategic policy think tank says Australia should not sell uranium to India unless India signs the nuclear non proliferation treaty (NPT).

The United States and India have signed a nuclear pact even though India has not signed the treaty.

Until now, Australia has refused to export uranium to India because it has not signed the treaty, although it has agreed to sell to Taiwan which has not signed up because it is not a sovereign country.

The Australian Strategic Policy Institute's Andrew Davies says there should be no exception for a country like India.

"India is a sovereign nation that has a seat at the UN and it is able to enter into international treaties," he said.

"I think Australia should maintain its position of requiring states like India to sign the NPT before uranium exports could happen.

"That would require a redraft of the NPT but one of the potential benefits of brining India in would be that Pakistan might feel obligated to follow suit.

"And I have a strong feeling that Pakistan under the NPT, with international inspections of its civil power program, would result in a net security gain - that's well worth having."