Outcome of Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s India Visit
September 8, 2014
Overseas bounties seem to be pouring in this monsoon for India. It began in July with the presidency of the new BRICS Bank to India, followed by the out-of-turn visit by US Secretary State John Kerry to New Delhi to facilitate a better chemistry between President Barrack Obama and the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi before they meet in Washington later this month; and the USD 35 billion ( Rs 2,10,000 crore) pledge by Japan to invest in India over next five years for various developmental works, besides Japan lifting ban on six Indian companies including HAL during Modi’s visit to the country a few days ago.
The latest in the line is the inking of the long-awaited Indo-Australia nuclear deal that allows the latter to sell uranium to India, during the recent two-day state visit of the Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott to New Delhi during 4-5 September 2014.
September 8, 2014
Overseas bounties seem to be pouring in this monsoon for India. It began in July with the presidency of the new BRICS Bank to India, followed by the out-of-turn visit by US Secretary State John Kerry to New Delhi to facilitate a better chemistry between President Barrack Obama and the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi before they meet in Washington later this month; and the USD 35 billion ( Rs 2,10,000 crore) pledge by Japan to invest in India over next five years for various developmental works, besides Japan lifting ban on six Indian companies including HAL during Modi’s visit to the country a few days ago.
The latest in the line is the inking of the long-awaited Indo-Australia nuclear deal that allows the latter to sell uranium to India, during the recent two-day state visit of the Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott to New Delhi during 4-5 September 2014.
Major Pacts Signed during Tony Abbott’s Visit
Abbott has been the first world leader to have paid a full state visit to India after the change in guard in New Delhi. Besides the inking of the nuclear pact, his visit also ensured pacts for cooperation in:
● Sports
● Water Resources Management
● Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET)
Besides, Australia also agreed to work towards increasing sales of coal and natural gas to India and Abbott further pitched for the Kangaroos as a reliable source of India’s food security and also for a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with India. Infrastructure development, Education and Terrorism too were high on the agenda of both the countries.
Abbott also made special reference to Gujarat headquartered Adani Group which has been allowed by the Australian government to develop the Carmichael coal deposit in Queensland, which he said would be one of the largest in the world.
Abbott has been the first world leader to have paid a full state visit to India after the change in guard in New Delhi. Besides the inking of the nuclear pact, his visit also ensured pacts for cooperation in:
● Sports
● Water Resources Management
● Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET)
● Water Resources Management
● Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET)
Besides, Australia also agreed to work towards increasing sales of coal and natural gas to India and Abbott further pitched for the Kangaroos as a reliable source of India’s food security and also for a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with India. Infrastructure development, Education and Terrorism too were high on the agenda of both the countries.
Abbott also made special reference to Gujarat headquartered Adani Group which has been allowed by the Australian government to develop the Carmichael coal deposit in Queensland, which he said would be one of the largest in the world.
Abbott also made special reference to Gujarat headquartered Adani Group which has been allowed by the Australian government to develop the Carmichael coal deposit in Queensland, which he said would be one of the largest in the world.
Nuke Deal: Most Significant Outcome of Abbott’s Visit
The bilateral uranium trade pact with the Kangaroos though, has been one of the most crucial agreements since the Indo-France and Indo-US nuclear deals of 2008 (Both France and the US are setting up nuclear plants in India). Indeed, it has been the biggest takeaway for India from Abbott’s visit.
Can we say the pact is a considerably bold step by Australia considering large-scale protests by the nuclear campaigners in the West, who now term the pact with a non-signatory country to the Nuclear non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), as “dangerous and irresponsible”? These apprehensions are based on two counts that the Australian fissile material could:
● Either find its way into nuclear weapons
● Or free up other fissile material for that purpose
It is significant the way Abbott allayed such apprehensions saying he was satisfied that neither would occur – “…India has an absolutely impeccable non-proliferation record and India has been a model international citizen”.
The confidence that Abbot has reposed in India and the resulting pact could be a game changer as the treaty in no uncertain terms endorses India’s trustworthiness as a responsible nuclear power in spite of the fact that India opposes the NPT and the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT). In fact, India now becomes the first country to buy Australian uranium without being a signatory to the NPT!
The bilateral uranium trade pact with the Kangaroos though, has been one of the most crucial agreements since the Indo-France and Indo-US nuclear deals of 2008 (Both France and the US are setting up nuclear plants in India). Indeed, it has been the biggest takeaway for India from Abbott’s visit.
Can we say the pact is a considerably bold step by Australia considering large-scale protests by the nuclear campaigners in the West, who now term the pact with a non-signatory country to the Nuclear non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), as “dangerous and irresponsible”? These apprehensions are based on two counts that the Australian fissile material could:
● Either find its way into nuclear weapons
● Or free up other fissile material for that purpose
● Or free up other fissile material for that purpose
It is significant the way Abbott allayed such apprehensions saying he was satisfied that neither would occur – “…India has an absolutely impeccable non-proliferation record and India has been a model international citizen”.
The confidence that Abbot has reposed in India and the resulting pact could be a game changer as the treaty in no uncertain terms endorses India’s trustworthiness as a responsible nuclear power in spite of the fact that India opposes the NPT and the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT). In fact, India now becomes the first country to buy Australian uranium without being a signatory to the NPT!
Indo-Australian Relations: On a New High
However, Australia’s ban on uranium sale to India had been a major impediment to a closer relationship as India always held it to be discriminatory and even racial in nature. The pact thus promises to take the Indo-Australian bilateral relations to an altogether new level of cooperation and camaraderie.
Much is attributed to the internal dynamics of Australian politics. The Conservatives were for the export of Uranium to India from 2007 but the Labor party opposed such a move on non-proliferation grounds. However, the latter finally reversed its stand in 2011 that triggered negotiations on a safeguards agreement that took over two years to be finalised. Following the bipartisan support to the pact, it was finally inked in New Delhi after the Conservatives returned to power in Canberra.
However, Australia’s ban on uranium sale to India had been a major impediment to a closer relationship as India always held it to be discriminatory and even racial in nature. The pact thus promises to take the Indo-Australian bilateral relations to an altogether new level of cooperation and camaraderie.
Much is attributed to the internal dynamics of Australian politics. The Conservatives were for the export of Uranium to India from 2007 but the Labor party opposed such a move on non-proliferation grounds. However, the latter finally reversed its stand in 2011 that triggered negotiations on a safeguards agreement that took over two years to be finalised. Following the bipartisan support to the pact, it was finally inked in New Delhi after the Conservatives returned to power in Canberra.
Major Boost for Indian Civil Nuclear Programme
The deal, like the French and US deals, portends well for Indian civil nuclear programme and would open newer vistas for a larger international assistance, thereby boosting prospects of India achieving its goal of 63,000 MW nuclear capacities by 2032 (At present though, India’s 20 atomic reactors generate 4,780 MW of electricity that is just about two per cent of the country’s total power production).
Undeniably the nuclear deal is a culmination of the five rounds of negotiations since 2012, when Australia, a close ally of the USA, reversed its policy on nuclear sales to India following the path-breaking Indo-US pact that provided a ‘separation plan’ for India to clearly distinguish its military and civilian nuclear facilities, and the placing of the former under international safeguards and monitoring.
The deal, like the French and US deals, portends well for Indian civil nuclear programme and would open newer vistas for a larger international assistance, thereby boosting prospects of India achieving its goal of 63,000 MW nuclear capacities by 2032 (At present though, India’s 20 atomic reactors generate 4,780 MW of electricity that is just about two per cent of the country’s total power production).
Undeniably the nuclear deal is a culmination of the five rounds of negotiations since 2012, when Australia, a close ally of the USA, reversed its policy on nuclear sales to India following the path-breaking Indo-US pact that provided a ‘separation plan’ for India to clearly distinguish its military and civilian nuclear facilities, and the placing of the former under international safeguards and monitoring.
India, a Big Market for Australia’s Uranium Reserves
At the back of this deal is also Canberra’s desire to be “an energy superpower” and Abbott clearly sees India with a “strong nuclear energy program”, as a large market for Australia’s large reserves on uranium ( Australia has 40 percent of the world’s known uranium reserves). It has equally large reserves of gas and coal and that too makes it eye India for a “long-term, sustainable and reliable supply of Australian resources based on India’s energy needs”. It goes without saying that India needs them more for its 300 million people who still don’t have any access to electricity, and also because there has been a severe shortage of coal that has left the country’s thermal power stations critically short of the fuel (It may be mentioned that nearly two-thirds of India’s power station require coal as fuel).
The deal is good news for the Australian uranium mining companies as India now expects Australia to provide for the “supply of uranium, production of radio isotopes, nuclear safety and other areas of cooperation”. One such company, Toro Energy, is now already in talks with Indian companies for investment in new mines.
Greater International Co-operation in the offing
Yet, this wasn’t possible even till two years ago. Can it now propel Japan to speed up its consideration for a nuclear deal with India to sell reactor technology that has been dragging since 2006, in view of protests from the anti-nuclear lobby there? (Japan is important in India’s scheme of things because its firms are involved in the US and French nuclear industry).
The treaty with Australia has enhanced prospects of a global acceptability of Indian nuclear programme and one expects Japan to acknowledge it soon too. So, now isn’t it the time for more bounties once Modi meets Uncle Sam in Washington? Or when the Chinese President XI Jinping comes arrives in New Delhi this month? We do look forward to them!
At the back of this deal is also Canberra’s desire to be “an energy superpower” and Abbott clearly sees India with a “strong nuclear energy program”, as a large market for Australia’s large reserves on uranium ( Australia has 40 percent of the world’s known uranium reserves). It has equally large reserves of gas and coal and that too makes it eye India for a “long-term, sustainable and reliable supply of Australian resources based on India’s energy needs”. It goes without saying that India needs them more for its 300 million people who still don’t have any access to electricity, and also because there has been a severe shortage of coal that has left the country’s thermal power stations critically short of the fuel (It may be mentioned that nearly two-thirds of India’s power station require coal as fuel).
The deal is good news for the Australian uranium mining companies as India now expects Australia to provide for the “supply of uranium, production of radio isotopes, nuclear safety and other areas of cooperation”. One such company, Toro Energy, is now already in talks with Indian companies for investment in new mines.
Greater International Co-operation in the offing
Yet, this wasn’t possible even till two years ago. Can it now propel Japan to speed up its consideration for a nuclear deal with India to sell reactor technology that has been dragging since 2006, in view of protests from the anti-nuclear lobby there? (Japan is important in India’s scheme of things because its firms are involved in the US and French nuclear industry).
The treaty with Australia has enhanced prospects of a global acceptability of Indian nuclear programme and one expects Japan to acknowledge it soon too. So, now isn’t it the time for more bounties once Modi meets Uncle Sam in Washington? Or when the Chinese President XI Jinping comes arrives in New Delhi this month? We do look forward to them!
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