By NNN-Bernama,
Melbourne : India is “deeply affronted” by Australia’s decision not to sell it uranium, despite the Australian Government’s protestations to the contrary, Opposition foreign affairs spokesman Andrew Robb said Sunday.
Australian Foreign Affairs Minister Stephen Smith said India respects Canberra ’s “party policy position” not to sell uranium to countries which refuse to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
But Robb said that’s not the case.
“At every level they (the Indian Government) are deeply affronted by the decision of the Australian government to refuse to sell our uranium while encouraging the rest of the world to sell uranium to India ,” Robb told ABC Radio.
“They can’t understand it, they are affronted and it will affect our relationship and it will cost Australians billions of dollars in the years ahead.”
Smith said in New Delhi Friday that the policy wasn’t aimed at India . Rather, it was “a long-standing (the Australian ruling) party political position, a policy which is there to assist and support the NPT and non-proliferation in general,” he said.
Last Saturday, the 45 countries which make up the Nuclear Suppliers Group, including Australia , moved to endorse a waiver of its rules for India which has so far refused to sign the NPT.
In August, Australia supported a International Atomic Energy Agency plan for the US to share nuclear fuel and technology with India .
Smith said those decisions “reflected an appreciation in the international community of the rise of India as a great power” but they would not alter Australia ‘s own position on uranium exports.
Smith also dismissed speculation that China was preventing Australia from exporting uranium to India .