India and Australia Friday inked the long-awaited civil nuclear agreement that will allow Australia to export uranium to India as well as three other agreements, including on water resources and in sports.
The four agreements were inked as Prime Minister Narendra Modi held talks here with his visiting Australian counterpart Tony Abbott.
The MoU on Cooperation in the Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy will promote cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy, and recognizes India's commitment and use of nuclear energy with a view to achieving sustainable development and strengthening energy security, an official statement said.
Australia can play the role of a long-term reliable supplies of uranium to India, the statement said, adding the agreement provides for supply of uranium, production of radio isotopes, nuclear safety and other areas of cooperation.
The second MoU is on cooperation in sport, and the agreement is aimed to promote exchange of programmes, experience, skills, techniques and knowledge in the field of sports.
It will facilitate exchanges of sports personnel, coaches and officials as well as of training and technologies. It will develop preparation for competitions and broad cooperation in sports, the statement said.
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The third MOU is on cooperation in the field of water resources management and will promote sharing of policy and technical experiences in water resources, particularly river basin management. It will encourage familiarisation of best practices and technologies developed by each side and for exchange of information and training. A Joint Working Group will coordinate the activities.
The two sides also inked an MoU on Cooperation in Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET), which is aimed to promote exchange of information and policy ideas in TVET systems, joint implementation of collaborative projects and facilitating links between governments, industry organizations and TVET bodies.
The focus will be to share experience and policy to build work force that is skilled and globally productive. The skills will promote broader cooperation including greater access to skilled labour across the region, the statement from the ministry of external affairs said.