Antinuclear

Indians aware on delays in uranium sales as the Abbott government might not last long

Domestic wall between Aussie-India nuclear hug New Delhi,  Telegraph, Calcutta April 14: India’s diplomatic establishment is preparing for delays in importing Australian uranium despite a commitment today to implement their nuclear deal this year – not because it doubts Canberra’s intent but because of the vagaries of that country’s domestic politics.

Australian foreign minister Julie Bishop told her Indian counterpart Sushma Swaraj today that Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s government planned to put in place this year a framework to implement the nuclear agreement the two nations inked last September.

But the tenuous nature of Abbott’s hold on power and the opposition the nuclear deal faces in Australia’s parliament have forced New Delhi to begin preparing for other, quicker sources of uranium – such as Canada, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived tonight.

the treaties committee of the Australian parliament, which must vet every international deal Australia enters, has received multiple submissions from nuclear experts, regulators and scientists critical of the agreement.

The critics include John Carlson, who headed Australia’s nuclear safeguards authority, M.V. Ramana, an Indian-origin nuclear physicist at Princeton, and Ron Walker, former chairman of the International Atomic Energy Authority board of governors.

The criticism is centred on two arguments: first, that the agreement dilutes Australia’s non-proliferation safeguards and can allow India to surreptitiously channel uranium for weapons, and second, that a weak agreement sets a template other nations will want to follow with Australia……

if the Australian treaties committee suggests modifications to the agreement, they will not be easy for Abbott to ignore.

The ruling coalition led by Abbott’s Liberal Party lacks majority in the Senate, the upper House of Australia’s parliament. So, the Opposition Labour Party needs to back the government on the treaty – and it has flipped and flopped on nuclear trade with India more than once.

Adding to India’s concerns, Abbott’s own position within the Liberal Party is believed to be tenuous, with repeated polls suggesting his cabinet colleagues Malcolm Turnbull and Bishop, the foreign minister, are more popular with voters……….http://www.telegraphindia.com/1150415/jsp/nation/story_14684.jsp#.VTHElNKqpHw

April 18, 2015 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Uncategorized