Uranium sales to India on the cards
After arriving in town overnight, John Howard’s second official trip to India got underway today, But, there are concerns tonight that he is about to back down on Australia’s current policy of not selling uranium to countries who refuse to sign the nuclear non-proliferation treaty. While India is not a signatory to the treaty, it already has nuclear weapon. Yet to date it has relied on its own limited supplies of uranium to fuel its nuclear power plant and to arm its weaponry. Howard’s trip to the second most populous country in the world follows the weekend visit by George Bush, which gave the green light for a uranium deal to be signed between US and India. Observers in Australia remain concerned that any back down would signal a major dilution of the power of the NPT treaty and could also herald uranium sales – this time to China. Friends of the Earth is opposed to selling uranium to India and Dr Jim Green, a campaigner with that group, joined us on the line to discuss the issue.