Aussie Govt criticised for agreeing on uranium sale to India

Melbourne, 15 Aug (UNI) Australian opposition parties and environmentalist groups have expressed outrage as Canberra has agreed to lift a ban on uranium exports to India.

According to 'The Australian' newspaper, the National Security Committee of the Australian federal cabinet had earlier decided to allow the sale of uranium to India late last night.

Australian government has been hesitating to sell the crucial nuclear fuel to India as the South Asian country is not a signatory to the international nuclear non-proliferation treaty (NPT).

The news has coincided with the 60th anniversary of the Indian independence from British rule but has sparked an instant fury from among the anti-nuclear lobby and environmentalists.

Federal Opposition leader Kevin Rudd has criticised the decision saying it would be wrong to sell Australian uranium to a non-signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

''It is a very bad development indeed when we have the possibility of the Government of Australia stepping outside the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and saying it's okay to sell uranium (to a country) which isn't a signatory,'' Mr Rudd told the Australian Broadcasting Radio today.

''This is a significant breach from the consensus of Australian governments in the past and I believe sends a bad message to the international community,'' he added.

The 'Greens' were first to lodge protest as they fear the Australian uranium may end up not in the power plants, as envisaged and promised by the Indian government, but in the nuclear weapons.

The environmentalist party has been expressing concerns that such nuclear weapons could be used against Australia.

''That's all a farce, the Indians themselves have said that will free us up to put the other uranium we've got into our nuclear weapon system,'' Greens leader Senator Brown was quoted by the newspaper, as saying.

Australia was directly fuelling the production of nuclear weapons for a country which would soon have rockets that would reach Australia, he added.

But, according the newspaper report, a condition of the deal would be that Australian inspectors would be authorised to check the uranium supply to ensure it was used only for peaceful purposes.

The Australian Federal Ministers have also been quick to defend the uranium deal with India.

Meanwhile, the Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer has ruled out such exports to Pakistan citing the country's ''very poor record of proliferation''.

Prime Minister John Howard is expected to contact Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to explain the proposed export deal before officially announcing the agreement.

UNI