Snubbing India Not Best Way to Engage
The Australian
Apr 1, 2008
In August 2007 the Howard government agreed to export uranium to India for the sole purpose of peaceful and clean power generation. It marked a huge stride for Australia in forging an enduring strategic partnership with India. The subsequent Rudd government decision to overturn this agreement is wrong and unsustainable. This decision is also confused and inconsistent given that enhancing relations with Asia is supposed to be one of the three pillars of Kevin Rudd's foreign policy. The decision, and the amateur way in which the decision was communicated to the Indian Government, has left a bitter taste in Indian mouths. The original agreement for Australia to sell uranium to India backed the historic US-India nuclear deal that separates India's nuclear energy program from its nuclear weapons program. Just as the powerful strategic partnership India is forging with the US has as its cornerstone this agreement for civilian nuclear co-operation, so too is nuclear co-operation a primary factor in India's prospective full engagement with Australia. Australia must engage because India has truly begun to look east with constructive and responsible eyes. India is the emerging economic powerhouse of South Asia. The time for Australia to make a key political investment in India is now.
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