Australia says no uranium as Pranab heads for Canberra
Indrani Bagchi & Sachin Parashar
Times of India
External affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee is leaving for Australia on Saturday even as a battle rages within the government on the India-US deal.
And the outcome of that battle will be as keenly watched in Canberra as in Washington, because that deal could be the making of the India-Australia relationship.
As Mukherjee heads off on his maiden visit to Australia, he told TOI that he was pretty sure Australia's close relationship with China would not impact its growing relations with this country. Mukherjee said, "We believe Australia's good relations with China will not be at the expense of India."
That's at the heart of India's unspoken reservations with the Kevin Rudd government in Canberra. Sources said the fact that Mukherjee is going in the middle of immense domestic political action only emphasizes why Australia is becoming more important to India. But Mukherjee said, "Australia became a trading partner of India in the 19th century — from Calcutta. In fact, the trading office there became our first high commission."
Significantly, the Australian foreign minister, Stephen Smith, making a policy statement on India on Friday, said, "The Australian government's policy not to supply uranium to non-Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty countries is of long standing and well known. The important point to note, however, is that Australia's relationship with India goes far beyond this single issue."
Instead, Smith reiterated Australia's support for India's permanent membership in the UN Security Council. India is now the largest source for skilled migrants for Australia.
The nuclear deal and its implications on India-Australia relations are never far from the surface, but Mukherjee was clear — "We're trying to resolve the nuclear deal issue within our country. Once that is done, then we can think of uranium sales from Australia." He is not going to raise the issue at all, he said, until the deal clears domestic hurdles.
In fact, even on the issue of support from Australia at the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), Mukherjee was non-committal. "I cannot ask when we haven't yet got there."
However, he is keen to build a deeper economic relationship with Australia. As India looks for more sources for resources, Australia is an obvious choice — from more cooking coal to who knows, uranium?
But India will push the proposal of joint production with Australia in these industries. "Australia has vast land
and mineral resources. We want to be part of joint production efforts."
Even on the Rudd government's decision to publicly walk out of the quadrilateral, Mukherjee said, "The quadrilateral never went beyond the discussion stage anyway." But he was non-committal on whether India would invite Australia to the Malabar exercises this year. "More and more countries want to join and we believe more countries should be part of these exercises."
India, Mukherjee said, shared many strategic perceptions with Australia. "Australia is an important country in the Indian Ocean rim. We are expanding and strengthening our relations in the bilateral and regional forums. Our foreign ministers' dialogue will revert to being an annual event like our economic commission meetings."
Asked whether he supported Kevin Rudd's proposal for an Asia-Pacific community, Mukherjee said, "We haven't been told about it so we haven't heard about it yet."
And the outcome of that battle will be as keenly watched in Canberra as in Washington, because that deal could be the making of the India-Australia relationship.
As Mukherjee heads off on his maiden visit to Australia, he told TOI that he was pretty sure Australia's close relationship with China would not impact its growing relations with this country. Mukherjee said, "We believe Australia's good relations with China will not be at the expense of India."
That's at the heart of India's unspoken reservations with the Kevin Rudd government in Canberra. Sources said the fact that Mukherjee is going in the middle of immense domestic political action only emphasizes why Australia is becoming more important to India. But Mukherjee said, "Australia became a trading partner of India in the 19th century — from Calcutta. In fact, the trading office there became our first high commission."
Significantly, the Australian foreign minister, Stephen Smith, making a policy statement on India on Friday, said, "The Australian government's policy not to supply uranium to non-Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty countries is of long standing and well known. The important point to note, however, is that Australia's relationship with India goes far beyond this single issue."
Instead, Smith reiterated Australia's support for India's permanent membership in the UN Security Council. India is now the largest source for skilled migrants for Australia.
The nuclear deal and its implications on India-Australia relations are never far from the surface, but Mukherjee was clear — "We're trying to resolve the nuclear deal issue within our country. Once that is done, then we can think of uranium sales from Australia." He is not going to raise the issue at all, he said, until the deal clears domestic hurdles.
In fact, even on the issue of support from Australia at the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), Mukherjee was non-committal. "I cannot ask when we haven't yet got there."
However, he is keen to build a deeper economic relationship with Australia. As India looks for more sources for resources, Australia is an obvious choice — from more cooking coal to who knows, uranium?
But India will push the proposal of joint production with Australia in these industries. "Australia has vast land
and mineral resources. We want to be part of joint production efforts."
Even on the Rudd government's decision to publicly walk out of the quadrilateral, Mukherjee said, "The quadrilateral never went beyond the discussion stage anyway." But he was non-committal on whether India would invite Australia to the Malabar exercises this year. "More and more countries want to join and we believe more countries should be part of these exercises."
India, Mukherjee said, shared many strategic perceptions with Australia. "Australia is an important country in the Indian Ocean rim. We are expanding and strengthening our relations in the bilateral and regional forums. Our foreign ministers' dialogue will revert to being an annual event like our economic commission meetings."
Asked whether he supported Kevin Rudd's proposal for an Asia-Pacific community, Mukherjee said, "We haven't been told about it so we haven't heard about it yet."