Canberra agrees to sell uranium to India: report+

SYDNEY-The Australian government has decided to begin selling uranium to India,a newspaper reported Wednesday.The Cabinet's National Security Committee agreed Tuesday night to allow uranium shipments to India,despite the nuclear power's continuing refusal to sign up to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty,The Australian newspaper reported.The export deal would have strict conditions, including allowing Australian nuclear inspectors to conduct on-site and supply chain checks to make sure the uranium is not siphoned off into weapons programs,the report said.Australian Prime Minister John Howard will first speak to his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh about the deal and its conditions before making any public announcement,it said.Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer flagged the possibility of such a uranium agreement last month, after a deal was struck between India and the US in which India,in return for access to U.S. advanced nuclear technology,would open its civil nuclear program to International Atomic Energy Agency inspections.India has long expressed an interest in buying Australian uranium to fuel its nuclear program, but Australia has previously had a policy of only selling uranium to countries that are part of the NPT regime.India has refused to join the NPT on grounds that the treaty is unfair as it grants only five countries-the US,Britain,France,China and Russia-the right to possess nuclear weapons.Mindful of India's increasing importance to Australia as a trading partner,the Cabinet has been under pressure to find a way to export uranium to India without contributing to nuclear tensions between India and Pakistan or fueling the spread of nuclear weapons.
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8R15G000&show_article=1&catnum=0

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