India, Australia speed up uranium supply talks

NEW DELHI: India and Australia will hold their first meeting next week, since the Delhi-Washington understanding on operationalization of the nuclear deal this January, for finalising the administrative arrangements for supply of the muchneeded uranium to this country with the hope of fixing the framework agreement by this year for exports from Canberra.

While the Indo-US arrangement announced during President Barack Obama’s visit and earlier administrative arrangement with Canada do not serve as templates for India and Australia, they are significant for Canberra’s policy, noted visiting Foreign Minister Julie Bishop. She informed that the officials of the two countries will meet next week for discussions on administrative arrangements for supply of uranium from Australia to India. The meeting will be held in Australia.

Brushing aside delay in the proposed nuclear deal, Bishop said that Australia is guided by its own considerations as India is a trusted and reliable user of civil nuclear energy. “We want to be India’s energy partner of choice, be it in uranium or coal or natural gas,” the minister said. Bishop is in India as a follow-up of her PM Tony Abbott’s visit to Delhi last year which was reciprocated by Modi in November 2014. She will meet her Indian counterpart, defence, finance and water resources minister.