End of uranium sales ban will give impetus to India, Australia relations: Rudd

Bangalore, Nov 15 (ANI): Australian Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd on Tuesday backed Prime Minister Julia Gillard's bid to lift the ban imposed on the sale of uranium sales to India, stating that the acceptance of the proposal would further strengthen relations between the two nations.

"On one side of the argument, there are many passions of course concerning non-proliferation. On the other side of the argument, of course, there are deep concerns about the strategic importance of India and how we further strengthen our relationship with India," Rudd said on the sidelines of the Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional Cooperation (IOR-ARC) meeting in Bangalore.

"On this debate, in Australia, we recognise the importance of India-Australia relationship, as Prime Minister and myself saw the upgrading of our relationship to that of strategic partnership in 2009. Australia is also conscious of the fact that India has an impeccable record in not proliferating nuclear weapons or nuclear weapons related technologies to other countries," Rudd added.

Emphasising that Australia's proposal would bring the country's uranium policy in line with the United States. Rudd said: "As far as this proposal is concerned, on the question of nuclear non-proliferation, the international rules of the game changed, when the United States of America initiated with India a set of arrangements to sell nuclear materials to India, not withstanding India's long opposition to signing and ratifying nuclear non-proliferation treaties."

Gillard had earlier pointed out that as India rises and brings hundreds of millions of people out of poverty 'it will need more energy', and cited economic benefits as one of three reasons for lifting the ban on uranium sales.

"India is our fourth biggest export markets, a market worth nearly 16 billion dollars to Australia, with enormous potential to grow as India becomes wealthier," Gillard said.

She said lifting the ban was another step to improve Australia's relationship with India.

"India as a rising giant will be part of that strong economic growth. Put simply, our best possible partnership with India is also good for Australian jobs," Gillard said. (ANI)