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Australian PM refuses to sell uranium to India

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-11-12 16:05

CANBERRA: Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has affirmed he will not buckle on Australia's refusal to sell uranium to India ahead of a meeting with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi, The Australian newspaper reported on Thursday.

Rudd told reporters in the Indian capital that India's refusal to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation (NPT) Treaty meant Australia would not sell it uranium, even though it had helped the Indian government obtain materials to support its nuclear program.

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India has long sought access to Australian uranium ore to meet the energy needs of its rapidly growing economy, with Rudd's government changing previous Labor policy to allow for an expansion of Australian uranium exports and the construction of new mines.

However, Australia maintains a blanket ban on selling uranium to nations which refuse to sign the NPT Treaty.

Rudd said the United States, Australia and other nations had worked together in recent years through the international Nuclear Suppliers Group to ensure India could access "the supply of inputs to its own nuclear program".

"We also worked in close concert with other nations from around the world, some of whom had profound reservations about that action," he said.

"On the question of bilateral uranium sales, I can say that our policy remains governed by the provisions of the non-proliferation treaty that has been the case in the past.

"The non-proliferation treaty and our policy in relation to it as underpinning our attitude to uranium sales is not targeted at any individual country. It has been longstanding Australian government policy."