Australia on Monday said it would support India's bid to join the Nuclear Suppliers Group, an exclusive international atomic-exports body that for decades has been closed to New Delhi due to its nuclear-weapons program.
Australian Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop during a visit to New Delhi informed Indian External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid of Canberra's decision "to support India's full membership of the NSG, just as we will support India's participation in all of the major export control regimes," according to a government release.
In addition to Australia, the United States, United Kingdom, Russia and France have all said they would support the South Asian nation's bid for NSG membership.
The 46-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group sets voluntary guidelines for its members to follow that are aimed at limiting access to nuclear technology and materials by countries that have not joined the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. Nuclear-armed India is not a signatory to the NPT accord but it received an exemption from the NSG body in 2008 to purchase atomic products from its members.
"Australia's decision acknowledges India's emergence as a major producer and potential exporter of nuclear energy and technology," Bishop said.
India has been campaigning since 2010 to become a member of not only the atomic exports group but also the Missile Technology Control Regime; the Wassenaar Arrangement, which seeks to limit the export of dual-use technology; and the Australia Group, which aims to curb the spread of biological- and chemical-warfare agents.
Canberra is holding talks with New Delhi on a bilateral atomic trade agreement that would permit India to purchase Australian uranium for its atomic energy reactors. Bishop said the third round of trade negotiations has been scheduled for Nov. 26-27 in the Indian capital. An agreement on the sale of uranium to India would be significant for Australia, as it has never before agreed to export the nuclear material to a non-NPT signatory state.
Bishop said she was optimistic that the trade talks would prove successful, though she declined to speculate when a deal might be formalized, United News of India reported.
Source:- nationaljournal.com
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