Howard tells Manmohan of Cabinet nod to uranium sale

NUCLEAR DEAL CLOUD

Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh's domestic troubles over the Indo-US nuclear deal may be far from over but he seems to be getting support from overseas, mainly from countries looking to sell nuclear technology and material to India.

After US President George W Bush, Australian Prime Minister John Howard today called up Singh to convey his government's decision to lift the ban on uranium sales to India, besides offering support on the nuclear deal.

A spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs said Howard called up Singh to officially convey the Australian government's decision to lift the ban.

Australia on Tuesday made an exception to the rule that it would sell uranium only to the countries that had signed the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), which India says is discriminatory. Earlier this year Australia had agreed to sell uranium to China, which has signed the NPT.

Howard is reported to have told Singh that the officials of the two countries need to hold talks to finalise the modalities of the uranium trade. Australia holds two-thirds of world's uranium, which is used as basic fuel to generate energy from nuclear plants.

The decision to lift the ban was taken by the National Security Council and later ratified by the Howard Cabinet.

Though the decision has come under fire from the opposition Labour Party, which is expected to win the next elections in 2008, the Australian government has said the use of the mineral under the auspices of the UN for civilian purposes will bring Indian civilian nuclear plans under the ambit of the world agency safeguards and enhance nuclear safety in the sub-continent.

According to a PTI report, Australian government's Chief Nuclear Adviser Ziggy Switkowski said yesterday India would have to play by acceptable international rules if it wanted uranium from his country.

Amid opposition criticism of the government's decision to sell uranium, the Chairman of Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation said he expected a ban on nuclear testing by India to be part of any deal with Australia.