New Delhi: Sticking to its policy of not
selling uranium to non-NPT countries, Australia on Thursday said it
"understands" that India looked forward to power its ambitious
civil nuclear energy program with Australian uranium.
"The government understands that India looks to the day
when its ambitious civil nuclear energy program can include
Australian uranium," Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said
in a speech at the Indian Council of World Affairs here.
On a three-day visit here, Rudd made it clear that its
policy on nuclear trade was not directed at India.
"I appreciate that there is one aspect of the energy
relationship which remains unresolved: Australia`s
long-standing position on the export of uranium to countries
that are not party to the Non-Proliferation Treaty. This is
not a policy directed at India," he said.
Rudd pointed out that Australia had not sought to isolate
India on critical nuclear policy concerns. "In fact the
reverse is true. Australia was an active supporter in the
Nuclear Suppliers Group of lifting the nuclear moratorium
against India following the US-India nuclear deal," he said.
Rudd said the strength of the India-Australia
relationship was reflected in the capacity of both governments
to work beyond this different policy approach.
Favouring an "ambitious" relationship, Rudd made a strong
pitch for India joining the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation
(APEC) and said he looked forward to launching talks for free
trade agreement.
‘Action on climate change can trigger job opportunities’
Action on climate change can trigger job opportunities and enhance economic potential of countries, as the cost of "inaction" is enormous, Rudd said.
"In Australia`s case, we are among the hottest and
driest continents on earth and the impact therefore on our
economy and on our people due to long-term of inaction is huge
and so too is it worldwide," Rudd said at a function organised
by FICCI here.
"So let me flip to the other side of the equation --
the economic potential which lies through only action on
climate change," he said pitching for investment in renewable
energy sector, specifically wind energy.
In this regard, Rudd referred to Renewable Energy
Target Bill passed by his government to quadruple the
renewable energy target set by the previous government in 2001
to 20 per cent by 2020.
"Therefore the opportunity for large inbound
investment for global renewable energy companies based in
India or elsewhere is huge and we welcome that investment.
"We think it is the right thing to do. So, I am
looking at the renewable energy sector from all dimensions,
whether it is from solar, wind, tidal or thermal. These
represents a large sector, he added.
Bureau Report
