Canberra:
Prime Minister Julia Gillard has called on her ruling party to overturn its ban on Australia exporting uranium to India for peaceful purposes.
The centre-left Labour Party government came to power in 2007 and immediately ended Australia's negotiations with India on starting a nuclear trade because India has not signed the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty.
But Gillard wrote in an opinion piece in The Sydney Morning Herald newspaper on Tuesday that she wanted Labour to change its policy at its annual nation conference next month.
"It is time for Labour to modernise our platform and enable us to strengthen our connection with dynamic, democratic India," she wrote.
After the overturn of the export ban, India's External Affairs Minister SM Krishna said that bilateral relations with Australia are important, which are "growing".
"We attach importance to our relations with Australia which are growing across the board. Energy is one of the key areas of bilateral cooperation," said External Affairs Minister SM Krishna said.
"We understand that Prime Minister Gillard proposes to seek a change in Australian Labour Party's policy on sale of Uranium to India, in recognition of our growing energy needs, our impeccable non-proliferation record and the strategic partnership between our two countries. We welcome this initiative," Mr Krishna added.
The trade with India should comply with International Atomic Energy Agency conditions and carry strong bilateral undertakings that the uranium will be only used for peaceful purposes.
Gillard's stance has been met by opposition within her party and from the environmental Greens party whose support is crucial to the minority government maintaining power.
But Senator Doug Cameron, leader of a Labour faction opposed to the policy reversal, conceded that he did not have sufficient numbers to maintain the status quo at the party conference.
Greens leader Senator Bob Brown warned that selling uranium to India would add to a "nuclear arms race."
Australia, which holds 40 per cent of the world's known uranium reserves, does not sell uranium on the open market and bans nuclear power generation at home.
But it sells uranium solely for power generation under strict conditions that ban any military applications in bilateral trade agreements with the United States, China, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea and several European countries.
(With inputs from Associated Press)
The centre-left Labour Party government came to power in 2007 and immediately ended Australia's negotiations with India on starting a nuclear trade because India has not signed the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty.
But Gillard wrote in an opinion piece in The Sydney Morning Herald newspaper on Tuesday that she wanted Labour to change its policy at its annual nation conference next month.
"It is time for Labour to modernise our platform and enable us to strengthen our connection with dynamic, democratic India," she wrote.
After the overturn of the export ban, India's External Affairs Minister SM Krishna said that bilateral relations with Australia are important, which are "growing".
"We attach importance to our relations with Australia which are growing across the board. Energy is one of the key areas of bilateral cooperation," said External Affairs Minister SM Krishna said.
"We understand that Prime Minister Gillard proposes to seek a change in Australian Labour Party's policy on sale of Uranium to India, in recognition of our growing energy needs, our impeccable non-proliferation record and the strategic partnership between our two countries. We welcome this initiative," Mr Krishna added.
The trade with India should comply with International Atomic Energy Agency conditions and carry strong bilateral undertakings that the uranium will be only used for peaceful purposes.
Gillard's stance has been met by opposition within her party and from the environmental Greens party whose support is crucial to the minority government maintaining power.
But Senator Doug Cameron, leader of a Labour faction opposed to the policy reversal, conceded that he did not have sufficient numbers to maintain the status quo at the party conference.
Greens leader Senator Bob Brown warned that selling uranium to India would add to a "nuclear arms race."
Australia, which holds 40 per cent of the world's known uranium reserves, does not sell uranium on the open market and bans nuclear power generation at home.
But it sells uranium solely for power generation under strict conditions that ban any military applications in bilateral trade agreements with the United States, China, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea and several European countries.
(With inputs from Associated Press)
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