India, Australia will gain from civil nuclear deal
If the civil nuclear cooperation agreement is finalised, as it is expected to, during Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott's tour of India, it will mark the completion of a process that had been set in motion two years ago and herald the beginning of a new era in bilateral relations. In 2012, then Prime Minister Julia Gillard had pushed her administration to lift the Australian ban on the sale of uranium to India. She had rightly argued that the policy was not in sync with the times as India’s non-proliferation record was spotless, even though it was not a signatory to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty. In the two years since then, Canberra and New Delhi have been working on a nuclear agreement that will allow Australia to begin selling uranium to India, while also putting in place adequate safeguards to ensure that the nuclear material is used for peaceful purposes only. India is also having similar negotiations with Japan (many were disappointed that a similar deal could not be signed during Prime Minister Modi’s recently concluded trip to that country) and the US (disagreements over existing Indian liability laws in the event of a nuclear accident have taken the sheen of the 2005 nuclear deal, that was celebrated as a landmark in bilateral ties not so long ago). With the Australians, progress had been slow but steady. Hopefully, both parties will now finish the last mile sooner than later. Civil nuclear trade between India and Australia promises to be a win-win deal for both countries. Energy-starved India must develop its fledgling nuclear industry if it has to meet the demands of an emerging economy. India has set a target of 20,000MW of nuclear energy by 2010, and Australia, home to 31 per cent of the world's recoverable uranium, is a natural partner. From the Australian perspective, nuclear cooperation with India will give a huge boost to its domestic economy.
Also on Prime Minister Abbott's agenda will be the strengthening of bilateral commerce, as is evident from the large trade delegation, led by Trade and Investment Minister Andrew Robb, which is accompanying him. India is already Australia's fifth-largest export partner, and the fourth-largest when it comes to merchandise. Natural resources like coal and gold make up for another significant chunk of the Australian export basket to India. Further, there is much scope for cooperation in the sectors of science and technology, energy as well as education. Indian companies are also investing in Australia — in these past few months, the Abbott Government has approved $400 billion worth of Indian investment including GVK's Alpha Coal project in the Galilee Basin, and Adani's Carmichael Coal Mine and Rail project in the same area. A free trade agreement between the two countries is also in the works and, when finalised, should offer a shot in the arm to the overall Australia-India relationship. The two countries have also begun working together in geo-strategic areas, with Australia increasingly seeking to project itself as an Asian power (as opposed to a Western one); cooperate in multilateral forums such as the G20; as well as exchange expertise and best practices. A good example is the Australian experience with water management in the Murray-Darling basin vis-à-vis India's Ganga rejuvenation plans.