CANBERRA, Oct. 17 (Xinhua) -- Australian Trade Minister Warren Truss on
Wednesday said Australia could negotiate its own terms for the sale of uranium
to India, Australian Broadcasting Corporation radio reported.
This came after the Indian government announced it was unlikely to sign a
pact with the United States on civil nuclear co-operation.
Truss said if a nuclear accord between the United States and India
collapses, Australia can still push ahead with its plans to sell uranium to
India.
The U.S.-India deal was a pre-condition to the planned sales of uranium
because India is not a signatory to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty and
Australia bans sale to non-signatories.
But the Australian government still plans to sell uranium to the
sub-continental country, saying an Australia-India uranium deal will include
strong safeguards.
The U.S.-India civil nuclear agreement was considered by the Australian and
U.S. governments to include sufficient safeguards to allow sales to India to
proceed.
The Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has told U.S. President George W
Bush that "certain difficulties" would prevent India from moving forward on the
pact for the foreseeable future.
It was reported that the main obstacle is not the agreement itself but
rather India's internal politics.
