2007 - a tumultuous year in Indo-Australian ties
Howard made it clear that uranium exports were conditional on a satisfactory conclusion of a civilian nuclear deal between India and the US.
By PTI |
MELBOURNE: The year 2007 could be viewed as the most tumultuous in Indo-Australian ties, which reached a new high when the Howard government expressed desire to sell uranium to New Delhi but the handling of the case of Indian doctor Mohd Haneef, wrongly accused of involvement in failed UK car bombings, caused huge embarrassment to Canberra.
In August, then Prime Minister John Howard's conditional offer to sell uranium to India elevated the bilateral relationship to a new level. For the Australian government, it meant a drastic shift in policy as it has long opposed selling uranium to countries like India, which have not signed the global nuclear non-proliferation treaty.
However, Howard made it clear that uranium exports were conditional on a satisfactory conclusion of a civilian nuclear deal between India and the US.
But, new Prime Minister and Labor party leader Kevin Rudd has pledged to review the Australian government's decision to export uranium. Rudd's Labor Party has a strong and vocal disarmament lobby, which is worried that the export deal could spark a regional nuclear arms race.
"Materially and symbolically, the deal is crucial to the relationship," Rory Medcalf, a former Australian diplomat was quoted as saying by the media. "The Indian government would find it very difficult to understand if a new government reverted to the old policy."
But the relationship has always been based on "Kangaroo hops" - improvements for a short time, which aren't sustained, he said.
The controversial case of Haneef, Brisbane-based Indian doctor who was arrested and released over the failed UK bomb plot, was dubbed as the most embarrassing for the Australian government as well as its federal police.
In August, then Prime Minister John Howard's conditional offer to sell uranium to India elevated the bilateral relationship to a new level. For the Australian government, it meant a drastic shift in policy as it has long opposed selling uranium to countries like India, which have not signed the global nuclear non-proliferation treaty.
However, Howard made it clear that uranium exports were conditional on a satisfactory conclusion of a civilian nuclear deal between India and the US.
But, new Prime Minister and Labor party leader Kevin Rudd has pledged to review the Australian government's decision to export uranium. Rudd's Labor Party has a strong and vocal disarmament lobby, which is worried that the export deal could spark a regional nuclear arms race.
"Materially and symbolically, the deal is crucial to the relationship," Rory Medcalf, a former Australian diplomat was quoted as saying by the media. "The Indian government would find it very difficult to understand if a new government reverted to the old policy."
But the relationship has always been based on "Kangaroo hops" - improvements for a short time, which aren't sustained, he said.
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The controversial case of Haneef, Brisbane-based Indian doctor who was arrested and released over the failed UK bomb plot, was dubbed as the most embarrassing for the Australian government as well as its federal police.
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