Antinuclear

At the ALP federal conference in Sydney next month, Ms Gillard will propose that the party make an exception to its policy that Australia should continue to adhere to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, by allowing uranium exports to India. This will be all right, apparently, because we will ”expect of India the same standards we do for all countries for uranium export – strict adherence to International Atomic Energy arrangements and strong bilateral undertakings and transparency measures that will provide assurances our uranium will only be used for peaceful purposes”.

The problem with the Prime Minister’s argument, of course, is that the existing policy does not treat India differently at all. As a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty, Australia does not export uranium to countries that are not signatories. India is not a signatory, and has long refused to sign the treaty. The other countries Ms Gillard mentioned, including China, are signatories. And that’s why Australia has agreed to export uranium to them.

Ms Gillard and other advocates of changing existing policy, such as Resources Minister Martin Ferguson and Defence Minister Stephen Smith, strangely do not seem troubled by India’s unwillingness to sign the treaty. The same safeguards against weapons proliferation, they argue, could be imposed by bilateral agreements with Delhi. But if India is willing to accept ”strict adherence to International Atomic Energy arrangements” and ”transparency measures”, why will it not adhere to the treaty? There would be no problem in selling India uranium if only it would agree to do so.

The problem is rather the opposite of what the Prime Minister says: it is not that Australia treats India differently, but that India wishes to be treated differently…..

India has several times come close to war with its nuclear-armed neighbour, Pakistan, and, whatever safeguards may be agreed on paper, it defies belief that a country with India’s strategic preoccupations would resist the temptation to use Australian-supplied uranium should it decide to acquire more nuclear weapons.

Some argue that hypocrisy is built into the Non-Proliferation Treaty, as recognised nuclear-weapon states were not obliged to abandon them on becoming signatories. Such arguments are a counsel of despair, for they imply that uranium exporters should just go on trading happily while more and more nations become nuclear-armed. Australia should stand by the treaty – while maintaining its relationship with an important ally, India…

: http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/editorial/if-india-wants-uranium-let-it-sign-the-treaty-20111115-1nh2b.html#ixzz1dvVSJHCM