New Delhi: India will soon have Australian uranium for its nuclear power plant as the two countries on Monday decided to start formal negotiations for an agreement on the civil nuclear energy cooperation here in March.
The announcement was made by External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid and visiting Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr here after bilateral talks.
India had been supported by Australia in the exemption given by Nuclear Suppliers’ Group(NSG) in 2008 following its civil nuclear cooperation deal with the US.
Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard during her visit to India last year had appreciated the country’s non-proliferation record and expressed the hope that India would join the four global export control regimes including the NSG.
In a joint interaction with the media after Monday’s talks, Khurshid and Carr said the negotiations on a Civil Nuclear Energy Cooperation Agreement would be led by Ministry of External Affairs of India and the Australian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and would commence in March.
Replying to a question on any time frame for concluding the negotiations, Khurshid said, “there was a sense of urgency in the matter. These are very important negotiations… we would like to complete it swiftly.”
The External Affairs Minister sought to stress that Australia had to make a very important contribution to the civil nuclear energy programme of India.
Carr said, “Australia and India officials will be working to conclude the agreement which will enable export of uranium to India.”
Earlier, in his opening remarks the Australian Foreign Minister said relations with India were very important for his country.
“India is key part of Australia’s future in the Asian Century and our interests are increasingly converging,” he said.
During their meetings, the two leaders discussed support for Afghanistan, maritime security in the Indian Ocean, joint efforts to combat terrorism and an agreement to expand bilateral dialogue on cyber security.
Khurshid in his opening remarks said the State visit of the Australian Prime Minister to India last year was a landmark in their strategic partnership during which a number of agreements were signed and several new initiatives were launched.
“Senator Carr and I reviewed the progress in the implementation of the decisions reached. We are satisfied with the scope and extent of progress made in various areas. We have strengthened our collaborative endeavours in several sectors and have opened up new areas of cooperation,” he said.
The External Affairs Minister said he discussed the entire gamut of bilateral relations with Senator Carr.
The two countries held the 8th round of the Framework Dialogue which is an integral component of the strategic partnership agreed by the two Prime Ministers in 2009.
“We are pleased that our Strategic Partnership has grown in strength and has expanded in scope. We also recognised that there are tremendous opportunities for much greater cooperation and that we shall strive to attain them,” said Mr Khurshid.
He said Defence Minister A K Antony would soon be visiting Australia for further discussions on cooperation in defence and security.
Khurshid also pointed out that trade negotiators had been engaged in broadening understanding towards a mutually beneficial CECA, and Indian investments in Australia had grown significantly in recent years, particularly in the resources sector, and Australian side had been invited to invest in the opportunities in India.
The External Affairs Minister said the relation between the two countries were based on shared interests and mutual benefit in political and security areas.
He also spoke of the Water Technology Partnership which will take concrete shape at the next Joint Working Group, in April 2013. Besides negotiations for the Transfer of Sentenced Persons will commence shortly.
Moreover, the Joint Commission between Minister for Commerce and Industries and the Australian Trade Minister which will give impetus to the trade relations, currently at Australian $21 billion.
Khurshid also spoke of the cooperation in the field of science and technology.
He said the two countries has strengthened their cooperation and consultations on regional and global issues.
He particularly spoke of the importance of regional cooperation in the Indian Ocean region, and at fora like IOR-ARC, of which Australia is assuming Chairmanship for the next two years. Besides, the two countries were also working closely in ASEAN and in East Asia Summit, ASEM and G-20 summit.
Khurshid also said India welcomed Australia’s role in UNSC. (UNI)