India-Australia talks on civil nuclear deal on November 25

NEW DELHI: Less than four months after being voted to power, the Tony Abbott-led Australian government is seeking to advance its strategic partnership with India, with the two sides set to hold a third round of negotiations on the civil nuclear deal in Delhi on November 25.

The decision to hold the talks was taken at a meeting between foreign minister Salman Khurshid and his Australian counterpart Julie Bishop in Perth on Thursday.

The two ministers reaffirmed the commitment of both countries to finalise the civil nuclear cooperation agreement to enable export of Australian uranium to India, according to an Australian foreign ministry statement. Abbott had met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in Brunei on the sidelines of the East Asia Summit last month and the duo had decided to push forward their growing strategic partnership in the Indian Ocean and Asia-Pacific regions. It was the first meeting between the two. Abbott is personally committed toward an early conclusion of a nuclear deal with India, officials said.

Australia has the world's largest uranium reserves (31% of the global total) and the delay in the decision to supply uranium had cooled Delhi’s ties with Canberra.

The last round of negotiations for the nuclear deal was held in July this year when the Labour Party was still in power. After an intense inter-party debate, the Labour Party decided in 2011 to reverse its long-standing policy of not selling uranium to countries that haven’t signed the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

Both countries are hopeful of concluding the agreement soon but have refused to set a schedule for this. The proposed India-Australia agreement will be consistent with Australia’s agreements with Russia and China.