No change in ban on uranium sales to India

The federal government has told India's foreign minister it won't lift the ban on
uranium sales to the South Asian giant.
SM Krishna met with Resources Minister Martin Ferguson in Melbourne on Wednesday to
discuss a range of energy sector issues.
Mr Krishna was expected to lobby Mr Ferguson to reconsider Labor's ban on uranium
sales to his country.
Labor refuses to sell uranium to India because it has not signed the United Nations
Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
Mr Ferguson said he welcomed Mr Krishna's visit.
"Regarding the export of uranium to India, the policy of the Australian government
is clear - we will only supply uranium to countries that are signatories to the
Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and have signed a bilateral agreement with
Australia," he said.
"This is not a policy specific to India, it applies equally to all countries."
Anti-nuclear campaigners said any change in the government's policy would be a mistake.
Overturning the ban would reward India's nuclear proliferation and undermine the
NPT, International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons Australia Chair Tilman Ruff
said.
"Selling uranium to India runs counter to Australia's and global security interests,
and would undermine Australia's stated support for achieving a world without nuclear
weapons," he said.
Mr Krishna will meet Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd for the seventh Foreign Ministers
Framework Dialogue on Thursday.
Mr Rudd said Australia's relationship with India was one of its most important.
"India is the world's largest democracy and a major power," he said.
"This annual minister-level dialogue is testament to the strength of the bilateral
political and economic relationship."
A key focus of the talks will be moves toward a new regional architecture, piracy,
people smuggling and education.
Mr Krishna's last visit to Australia, in 2009, came in the wake of a series of
high-profile attacks on Indian university students.
The attacks were a major contributor to a subsequent drop in Indian student numbers.
Mr Krishna returns to India on Friday. Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is
expected to visit Australia later in 2011.