India and Australia signed a long-awaited nuclear energy deal on September 5, during a visit by Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott in INdia. Abbott briefed reporterd that he was looking for “first-rank relations with India”. Abbott met and finalized the deal with India Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi, which will allow the export of Uranium to India.
Abbott said that India and Australia had “strongly convergent” trade and strategic interests. During the meeting, Abbott had made a gift of a “Nehru jacket” to Modi, who in turn presented him a copy of the Bhagavad Gita. Earlier, Abbott had also returned two statues stolen from India and displayed in Australian museums, including one of Lord Shiva and Nandi, and another with Lord Shiva as Ardhanarishvara. India and Australia had begun negotiating the sale of Uranium in 2012 after Australia lifted a long-time ban on exporting the valuable mineral to India, which is trying to meet an ambitious nuclear energy target.
Australia is the world’s third biggest uranium producer, had previously withheld exporting Uranium because India had not signed the global non-proliferation treaty. However Abbott said on september 4 that he was certain that India was committed to peaceful power generation. “India has an absolutely impeccable non-proliferation record and India has been a model international citizen,” he told reporters in Mumbai.
Australia’s decision came on the heels of a United States agreement in 2008 to support India’s civilian nuclear program. India desperately requires nuclear fuel to jump-start its flagging power generation sector. Nearly 400 million in India still live without access to electricity, according to the World Bank, and power cuts are not uncommon. The agreement between the countries will allow India to ramp up plans for more nuclear power stations. Currently, there are only 20 small plants in India, which is mostly dependant on coal.
When queried about India’s management of its nuclear power industry and safety standards, Abbott said it was “not our job to tell India how to conduct its internal affairs. Our job is to try to ensure we act in accordance with our own standards of decency and that’s what we intend to do.” He added that India’s “standards are improving all the time”.