After uranium nod, Australia may rejoin Indian naval drills

NEW DELHI: Australia may rejoin the high-profile Malabar naval exercises with India, the US and Japan, as both countries ramp up defence and security ties after the “uranium irritant” was removed from the ties.

Stephen Smith, Australia’s defence minister, on a recent visit to India soon after the ruling Labour party voted to overturn the ban on selling uranium to India, said, “I have no doubt that the uranium decision has removed any potential irritant in the relationship and set the scene for a further improved relationship,” he said.

India and Australia will start discussions on a safeguards agreement which, if the Australia-China agreement is anything to go by, could be a tough one. In any case, it will be many years before India buys the first shipment of uranium from Australia . Smith said, “Our decision reflects not just that India voluntarily has brought itself under the international regulators of civil nuclear energy, the IAEA and NSG.” Australia had voted for a waiver for India in the NSG in 2008.

The two nations are in the process of building ties in the area of maritime security, particularly in the South and East China Seas and the Indian Ocean rim. This formed the bulk of Smith’s conversations with defence minister A K Antony and the naval chief, Admiral Nirmal Verma. The defence ministry said on Tuesday, “Both sides agreed that challenges in the area of maritime security like piracy and freedom of navigation are important issues which required concerted efforts of the global community.”

Stressing that the cooperation was not China-centric, he said both countries reaffirmed the importance of law of the sea, freedom of navigation in international sea lanes. He said, that on territorial disputes, regional and international bodies have an interest in resolving disputes peacefully — a direct refutation of China’s claim that the dispute was “bilateral” and “outsiders” had no role to play.