Uranium issue on table with Australia: Pranab
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22/06/2008
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Indian Express (New Delhi)
Canberra : India on Sunday said it would raise the issue of uranium sale with Australia as External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee arrived here on Sunday to carry forward the momentum in bilateral ties and ink two key treaties on extradition and mutual legal assistance in criminal matters. "We are going to discuss all issues of our expanding cooperation. We are going to review the international situation on uranium. Keeping that in view, whatever will be relevant will be discussed tomorrow,' Mukherjee, who is on his maiden two-day visit to Australia, said here. Mukherjee will hold talks with his counterpart Stephen Smith on Monday under the second round of the framework dialogue after a gap of three years and also call on Prime Minister Kevin Rudd. Ahead of the visit, the Rudd Government, which is pushing for closer political and economic ties with India, had played down its decision not to sell uranium to New Delhi in the wake of its opposition to NPT. It said ties with New Delhi go beyond "this single issue'. The previous John Howard Government had in principle approved the sale of yellow cake to India. However, Mukherjee gave a firm indication that he would make another bid to persuade Canberra, which is a member of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), to revise its stand on the issue. "This century Australia and India can cooperate on a scale and partnership not seen before between the two,' Smith said in a statement, adding that the countries could look forward to unprecedented cooperation in the coming years. An extradition treaty and a pact on Mutual Legal Assistance to aid in any criminal cases were expected to be signed between the two sides on Monday, Deputy High Commissioner of India Vinod Kumar said. The two sides would review the entire gamut of bilateral ties, including greater cooperation in the energy and minerals sector during the talks, sources said. This will also be the seventh high-level visit from India to Australia this year. Mukherjee said India was keen to carry forward the dialogue framework set up in 2005. Smith said he was looking forward to holding wide-ranging talks with the Indian minister covering key bilateral, regional and international issues. "This will be the fifth such (framework) dialogue and the first since 2005,' he said in a statement. "Both governments are committed to taking the Australia-India relationship to a new, higher level.' The high-level visits to Australia from India this year underline "the growing depth and breadth of the relationship and the potential for a historic uplift in the relationship,' Smith said. India has identified several areas for expansion of relations, including the booming trade that has been growing at a rate of 40 per cent per year and stood at 10.75 billion Australian dollars in 2007.