The trade pact is likely to dominate talks between both the leaders who last night announced the completion of all the formalities for India-Australia Civil Nuclear Agreement.
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The minister’s latest remark came at a time when Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to meet his Australian counterpart Malcolm Turnbull and discuss the trade pact on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Turkey today. This agreement was signed under the assurance that Uranium supplied to India will be used for peaceful purposes and will not be used for any military objective.
“Another milestone achievement as two PMs announce completion of procedures for India Australia Civil Nuclear Agreement”, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup tweeted after the meeting.
This is to note that India and Australia signed nuclear cooperation agreement in September 2014 which was recently ratified by the Australian Parliament.
“The PM thanked the Australian PM and said the nuclear agreement is a milestone and a source of trust and confidence”.
Mr Turnbull said the relationship was getting stronger and Australia was keen to conclude a free trade agreement with India.
While India faced Western sanctions in 1998 after testing nuclear weapons, the sanctions were lifted after a deal with the United States in 2008 that included safeguards against using the nuclear fuel for weapons production.
Concerned about running out of nuclear fuel, in July India created a strategic uranium reserve to ensure that its atomic reactors can keep producing electricity without interruption. India and Australia had commenced negotiations for the sale of uranium in early 2012.
New Delhi has less than two dozen small reactors at six sites with a capacity of 4,780 MW, or 2 per cent of its total power capacity.
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However issues in India could impact on Australia’s plans on realising the deal.
