Uranium sale to India subverts war against terror

Melbourne, Aug 10: The opposition Labour Party in Australia has warned that any deal to sell uranium to India could undermine a global war against terror.

The warning comes at a time when the Australian government is expected to announce its verdict on the agreement for exporting uranium to India.

According to the Party, sale of crucial fuel for Indian nuclear power stations would discourage Pakistan from participating in the war against terror. A Labour Party leader opined it would only escalate tensions in the subcontinent.

The fact that India is not a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) has also been cited as a reason for not exporting uranium to one of Australia's largest trading partners.

'' That is not to say that we do not think the NPT should be revised to look at the situation of India in particular,'' Opposition Foreign Affairs spokesman Robert McClelland was quoted by various newspapers as saying.

'' But to sell it to a country that is not part of the NPT would undermine the legitimacy of the NPT which would be extremely counter-productive.

''(And) selling it to India, when it is not a part of the NPT would simply result in Pakistan saying 'look, you are discriminating against us,'' Mr McClelland said adding, '' There is no possible way we could contemplate selling uranium to Pakistan.'' Meanwhile, the Australian Liberal government is believed to be in the process of finalising a proposal to overrule the NPT clause and export yellow cake to India.

The change in the Australian government's attitude, experts believe, comes as a result of India's agreement with the US for the transfer of nuclear technology.

UNI