Australia Uranium Sale To India

The union cabinet on Wednesday ratified the India-Australian civil nuclear cooperation agreement that came into force last month and has further eased the supply of imported uranium for India's nuclear power plants.

Australia's ties with India are set to benefit from the ruling Labor Party's decision to lift a ban on exporting uranium to the growing Asian power, Australian Defence Minister Stephen Smith said on Monday.

A day after Australia's ruling Labor Party approved uranium sale to India, Pakistan has demanded it be allowed to buy the nuclear raw material if the Gillard administration proceeds with sales of yellowcake to New Delhi.

Australia's Northern Territory, which produces about eight per cent of the world's mined uranium, plans to send a trade mission to India after the ruling Labor Party approved the sale of yellow cake to the country.

Australia's ruling party voted on Sunday to overturn a long-standing ban on exporting uranium to India, despite fierce opposition from critics who argued such sales are unsafe because India has not signed the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Australian counterpart Julia Gillard met in Bali on Saturday for a brief interaction to take forward discussions on selling uranium to India and also to review their strategic partnership.

The union cabinet on Wednesday ratified the India-Australian civil nuclear cooperation agreement that came into force last month and has further eased the supply of imported uranium for India's nuclear power plants.

Australia's ties with India are set to benefit from the ruling Labor Party's decision to lift a ban on exporting uranium to the growing Asian power, Australian Defence Minister Stephen Smith said on Monday.

A day after Australia's ruling Labor Party approved uranium sale to India, Pakistan has demanded it be allowed to buy the nuclear raw material if the Gillard administration proceeds with sales of yellowcake to New Delhi.

Australia's Northern Territory, which produces about eight per cent of the world's mined uranium, plans to send a trade mission to India after the ruling Labor Party approved the sale of yellow cake to the country.

Australia's ruling party voted on Sunday to overturn a long-standing ban on exporting uranium to India, despite fierce opposition from critics who argued such sales are unsafe because India has not signed the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Australian counterpart Julia Gillard met in Bali on Saturday for a brief interaction to take forward discussions on selling uranium to India and also to review their strategic partnership.