India hopeful of getting Australian uranium

Ahead of external affairs minister S M Krishna's talks with Australian leadership, including the ministers for energy and foreign affairs, India today was hopeful of Australia to revisiting its stand on not selling uranium to it. HT reports.

Ahead of external affairs minister S M Krishna's talks with Australian leadership, including the ministers for energy and foreign affairs, India on Tuesday was hopeful of Australia to revisiting its stand on not selling uranium to it.

"We do expect the Australian government to revisit its stated position," Arun Kumar Goyal, joint secretary (south) in-charge of Australia in the external affairs ministry, told reporters.

HT Image

"We are hopeful that there will be a change in the position in the near future," Goyal said.

Goyal was alluding to Australian High Commissioner Peter Varghese's remarks last week that there was no change in Australia's position of not selling uranium to countries which have not signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

Australia's uranium resources account for 40% of the world's total identified resources of the yellow-cake.

"We are ready when the Australian friends are ready for furthering civil nuclear cooperation," added Vishnu Prakash, the spokesperson of the external affairs ministry.

Krishna is expected to take up the issue when he meets his Australian counterpart Kevin Rudd as well as the resources minister Martin Ferguson. Krishna is traveling to Australia for the seventh round of a framework dialogue between the two countries.

And Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is expected travel to Australia to attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Perth in October this year.