Australian Uranium for Indian Nuclear weapons?

[Developereo]

A win for Indian diplomacy no doubt.

Australia's decision has nothing to do with Indian diplomacy.
It was mostly due to American pressure -- although most Aussies will deny it.

 

[anonymus]

Australia has no credible mechanism of guaranteeing that this Uranium won't be used for weapons. If it does, this will be counted as proliferation.

No, they have.

According to NPT waiver clauses, an NPT signatory supplier could supply Nuclear material and technology only to civilian reactors on which IAEA has oversight.

The only help Indian nuclear weapon program by freeing Indian nuclear reserves for weapons.

 

[janon]

Australia's decision has nothing to do with Indian diplomacy.
It was mostly due to American pressure -- although most Aussies will deny it.

The simplest explanation is usually the most sensible one. We have the money, they have the stuff - it is purely business.

The Indian market for Uranium will be worth hundreds of billions of dollars, if not more. Why would Australia not grab a share of that pie, and lose out to others who are happy to supply us? Other countries with huge reserves have already signed up.

Why would USA pressure Australia to sell us Uranium, instead of themselves selling to us? W hy would they need to be pressured anyway, isn't the sweet smell of money enough?

 

[Hamartia Antidote]

Australia's decision has nothing to do with Indian diplomacy.
It was mostly due to American pressure -- although most Aussies will deny it.

Maybe part of the negotiations for secret drone bases.

 

[Developereo]

The simplest explanation is usually the most sensible one. We have the money, they have the stuff - it is purely business.

The Indian market for Uranium will be worth hundreds of billions of dollars, if not more. Why would Australia not grab a share of that pie, and lose out to others who are happy to supply us? Other countries with huge reserves have already signed up.

Why would USA pressure Australia to sell us Uranium, instead of themselves selling to us? W hy would they need to be pressured anyway, isn't the sweet smell of money enough?

China, and others, will buy up all the uranium Australia can supply. China is paying market rates -- same as India or any other buyer would pay. It's not as if Australia had a shortage of customers for its uranium.

Australia had a strict rule about not selling to countries which have not signed the NPT. It was the US which pushed through India's exemption, but that exemption was not an automatic trigger to remove Australia's rules. Jula Gillard did a 180 degree turn on Australia's standing policies and the timing of the decision was crucial. A lot was happening between US and Australia at the time and the US's Asia pivot for China containment was very much in the news.

Maybe part of the negotiations for secret drone bases.

Australia's military relationship with the US is very much aboveboard. There is no need for secrecy.

 

[janon]

China, and others, will buy up all the uranium Australia can supply. China is paying market rates -- same as India or any other buyer would pay. It's not as if Australia had a shortage of customers for its uranium.

Australia had a strict rule about not selling to countries which have not signed the NPT. It was the US which pushed through India's exemption, but that exemption was not an automatic trigger to remove Australia's rules. Jula Gillard did a 180 degree turn on Australia's standing policies and the timing of the decision was crucial. A lot was happening between US and Australia at the time and the US's Asia pivot for China containment was very much in the news.



Australia's military relationship with the US is very much aboveboard. There is no need for secrecy.

That was a common rule formulated by the entire Nuclear Supplier Group. But once the NSG decided to exempt India, and other countries in the NSG began selling to India, there was no point anymore for Australia to follow the rule that everyone else had abandoned. They would simply miss out on one of the biggest markets in the world, while other countries laughed all the way to the bank. Just as Australia has no shortage of customers, India had no shortage of suppliers, once the NSG waiver happened.

 

[Hamartia Antidote]

Australia's military relationship with the US is very much aboveboard. There is no need for secrecy.

No I mean Indian cooperation on bases.

 

[janon]

No I mean Indian cooperation on bases.

Ain't gonna happen. There will be no foreign bases in India - Indians are extremely sensitive to such things. The commies in west bengal protested and demonstrated across the state when there was a joint air exercise with the USA in Kalaikunda AFB, some years back. A foreign military base is something no Indian will swallow - sovereignity is non negotiable.

 

[Hamartia Antidote]

Ain't gonna happen. There will be no foreign bases in India - Indians are extremely sensitive to such things. The commies in west bengal protested and demonstrated across the state when there was a joint air exercise with the USA in Kalaikunda AFB, some years back. A foreign military base is something no Indian will swallow - sovereignity is non negotiable.

Who says it has to be designated "foreign".

 

[Developereo]

That was a common rule formulated by the entire Nuclear Supplier Group. But once the NSG decided to exempt India, and other countries in the NSG began selling to India, there was no point anymore for Australia to follow the rule that everyone else had abandoned. They would simply miss out on one of the biggest markets in the world, while other countries laughed all the way to the bank. Just as Australia has no shortage of customers, India had no shortage of suppliers, once the NSG waiver happened.

The exemption allows suppliers to sell to India, it does not require them to do so.

The exemption came under Bush, and Kevin Rudd of Australia held firm on Australia's principles for several years. It was only when Julia Gillard became PM that she succumbed to American pressure.

As for trade with India, the same logic that I gave for China also applies to India. Despite actions that might be deemed irritating or insulting, China continues to trade with Australia. India would do likewise (minus uranium) since Australia remains a 1.5 trillion dollar economy, rich with natural resources (other than uranium).

No I mean Indian cooperation on bases.

OK, I will let the Indians field this one.

 

[IndoUS]

Who says it has to be designated "foreign".

Designated or not, it is highly unlikely to ever happen. Allowing a foreign nation to use the base to attack other nation is a big no no. Every nation has pride and sovereignty, no one will allow basing of foreign troops on their soil, especially India where such issues can be used as fire power during elections. Even India's closest allies aren't allowed to base troops in India, let alone US with which India has had a pretty rough relationship in the past. The only exception that has been made to this rule was with Singapore, and that was mainly because it's a city state and their Air Force doesn't have proper training bases, so India allows them to use its bases for training, and even then there is a serious oversight by our own air force as what comes in and goes out.

Australia's decision has nothing to do with Indian diplomacy.
It was mostly due to American pressure -- although most Aussies will deny it.

Still can be considered as a victory for Indian diplomacy, at the end of the day it was India that used the whole US and China issue to get the advantage to get the waiver through US. So even if US pressures Australia then it just mean we didn't have to go that extra mile to please every one, and let other do our job.

 

[Hamartia Antidote]

Even India's closest allies aren't allowed to base troops in India, let alone US with which India has had a pretty rough relationship in the past.

Who said troops? All there will be is a skeleton crew of CIA people to make sure it lands, refuels, and takes off ok.

The pilots could be Indians sitting in a container in Nevada.

 

[jarves]

Maybe part of the negotiations for secret drone bases.

We will never let evil zionist Alqaeda supporter JEW USA to base drones in India.

you already have a base in Diego garcia,why you need one more in India??

Who said troops? All there will be is a skeleton crew of CIA people to make sure it lands, refuels, and takes off ok.

The pilots could be Indians sitting in a container in Nevada.

I think CIA has already infiltrated in India and you already have a base in Diego Garcia.

 

[Dillinger]

Who said troops? All there will be is a skeleton crew of CIA people to make sure it lands, refuels, and takes off ok.

Sovereignty is a big issue for India. Being an erstwhile colonial state we have a very rigid stance on never voluntarily allowing foreign forces to step foot on our soil. Unless the US annexes whichever area it wants said base in it will not happen. Any government in power here which accedes to the concerned US demand will find itself losing its mandate and therefore power thereby making any such move political suicide. In India you are dealing with a nation which even refuses to sign the CISMOA and basic logistics agreements/memorandums..extrapolate from there on onward.

 

[IndoUS]

Who said troops? All there will be is a skeleton crew of CIA people to make sure it lands, refuels, and takes off ok.

The pilots could be Indians sitting in a container in Nevada.

Mate CIA will be even terrible idea since they are an intelligence agency, and with the current NSA disaster people around the world are a bit paranoid about US intelligence agencies. The whole political situations in India will never allow it. You have to realize that in India even the smallest of issues can be made into a big thing when politics is involved, and you put in foreign countries using Indian bases to refuel or land their military aircrafts would make the government look weak, and make it seem that they have fallen to foreign pressure.