Dear EDitor,
For far too long, Australia kept itself aloof from the rest of Asia, aligning itself with the West. But now, India’s nuclear deal with it signals a new phase in regional diplomacy. The deal is also significant because this is the first time that Australia is selling uranium to a country which is not a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). Till now, Australia only exported uranium to NPT signatories – China, Japan and the US.
Though India has uranium mines in Jharkhand and Andhra Pradesh, they are not sufficient for the expanded civil nuclear programme in the country. The agreement should ease the supply constraint which has arrested the functioning of our nuclear reactors and stymied the growth in power generation through nuclear energy.
R. S Jamwal
Jammu