India and Australia have in recent times held “very substantive” forward-looking discussions on implementing their bilateral nuclear supply agreement, with New Delhi expressing hope that the talks would reach a logical conclusion, the Ministry of External Affairs said on Friday.
The remarks assume significance ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Australia, where energy security and critical minerals are expected to feature prominently in bilateral discussions.
Responding to a question on the status of uranium supplies from Australia, Vishwesh Negi, Joint Secretary (Indo-Pacific) in the MEA, said the two countries were actively engaging on operationalising the agreement.
“We are aware that India and Australia have a bilateral nuclear supply agreement. However, it has not been implemented for the last few years. In recent times, there have been very substantive forward-looking conversations between the two sides, and I think there is hope that there will be a logical conclusion to the discussions,” Negi said during a special media briefing.
India and Australia signed the Civil Nuclear Cooperation Agreement in 2014, paving the way for the supply of Australian uranium to fuel India’s civilian nuclear power programme. While the agreement entered into force in 2015, commercial uranium supplies have yet to commence.
On reports that Indonesia had sought additional BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles and a Line of Credit from India to facilitate defence purchases, MEA Secretary (East) Rudrendra Tandon declined to comment on specific discussions.
“Defence cooperation is an important part of the relationship with Indonesia. I don’t think we need to get into the details of this at this juncture, particularly since we haven’t even departed from here and all these are at preparatory stages,” Tandon said.
India and Indonesia have steadily expanded ties in recent years, with maritime security, military exercises and defence industrial cooperation emerging as key pillars of the strategic partnership.
