Australia may insist on test ban and sending its own nuclear inspectors; Howard calls PM, discusses uranium sale

New Delhi

16 August 2007

Australia could send its own inspectors for checking Indian nuclear

plants to ensure proper use of the uranium it might supply, according to Australian

Foreign Minister Alexander Downer.

"This will provide still more safeguards than we currently have," he told the Australian

Broadcasting Corporation. He sought to suggest that a bilateral safeguards arrangement,

in addition to a similar agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency, would

help prevent the use of Australian uranium in the Indian nuclear weapons programme.

The chairman of the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, Mr Ziggy

Switkowski, went a step further to seek an Indian commitment to abandon nuclear testing

in future. He expected a ban on nuclear testing to be part of any cooperation between

India and Australia.

India will have to play by acceptable international rules if she wanted Australian

uranium, he was quoted as saying in the Herald Sun newspaper.

"To be allowed access in one case to American technology for new generation reactors

and to our high quality uranium you've got to be prepared to accommodate the rules that

govern reasonable international behaviour," Switkowski said. "I think continuing

weapons testing would compromise that kind of a situation. I think at that stage we have

to reverse out of the agreement in terms of supplying Australian uranium."

The statements by Mr Downer and Mr Switkowski come on a day when Australian Prime

Minister John Howard telephoned Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to inform him of the

decision of the Australian Government regarding sale of uranium to India. The national

security committee of the Australian Cabinet on Tuesday decided in principle to export

uranium to India, conditional on agreed safeguards. Australia has the world's largest

known reserves of uranium.

The spokesman of the Ministry of External Affairs said: "The Prime Minister thanked

Prime Minister Howard. It was agreed that the matter would be discussed further at the

official level."

In Sydney, Mr Howard said that safeguards to prevent the use of the nuclear fuel in

weapons would be put in place. "Before effect is given to the in-principle decision we

have taken there'll also need to be a satisfactory finalisation of the negotiations between

India and the United States," he said.

The opposition Labour Party has demanded that the Australian Government immediately

review the pending decision to sell the uranium to India. Labour Party Foreign Affairs

Spokesman Robert McClelland said in Canberra: "The US State Department has now

made clear that the US-India agreement is off if India do go ahead with a nuclear

weapons test. So the foreign minister must immediately make clear whether the Howard

Government was prepared to take their proposed nuclear deal off the table if India

conducts nuclear weapons tests." The Indian Government, he said, won't rule out nuclear

testing and Australia has multiple international treaty obligations that the Government

should uphold. He added that Labour, if elected, would overturn any decision to sell

uranium to India and would lobby as a member of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) to

block such exports.

Washington imposes sanctions for supplying chemicals to Iran; 'we didn't break any law', Indian companies tell US

New Delhi

29 December 2005

The two Indian companies sanctioned by the United

States Government for supplying chemicals to Iran say the shipments

were as per Indian law and the guidelines under the Chemical Weapons

Convention were complied with.

The vice chairman of Mumbai-based Sabero Organics Gujarat Limited, Mr

Mohit Chuganee, said the Ministry of External Affairs and the Ministry of

Chemicals and Fertilisers had found no discrepancy in the business

transaction.

Mr Smit repeat Smit Patel of Sandhya Organic Chemical Private Limited,

in turn, said he was surprised to learn about the imposition of the

sanctions despite adhering to all India laws and the relevant international

guidelines.

Mr Patel would not take more questions and chose to conclude his

remarks by stating that the supply of chemicals were not without the

approval of the government agencies concerned. However, Mr Chuganee

was more forthcoming.

"There had been extensive contacts with the Ministry of External Affairs

and the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers before and after the one-

time shipment of 90 tons of trimethyl phosphite two years ago," Mr

Chuganee told this newspaper.

Mr Chuganee, however, acknowledged that the government did suggest

sometime ago that while the shipment was as per rules, politically it

would better if the business transaction was terminated and further

shipment discontinued with.

He said trimethyl phosphite was a dual-use chemical notified under the

Schedule Three of the Chemical Weapons Convention. Some 150

countries are signatories to the Convention including India, Iran and the

United States.

"We were in touch with both the director general of foreign trade (DGFT)

and the Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals under the Ministry

of Chemicals and Fertilisers, which is the nodal agency designated under

the Chemical Weapons Convention," he said.

He said the Iranian company called Raja Shimi wanted to buy more

quanities of the chemical but he chose not to process the request. "The

[decision to exercise the] option was ours," he said, who is business for

the past decade.

Washington, meanwhile, maintained that the sanctions were based on

"credible evidence". State Department Deputy Spokesman Adam Ereli

said "[the sanctions are] an important and effective tool in constraining

Iran's efforts to develop missile and weapons of mass destruction

capabilities."