Devil Soul
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Australian Opposition Vows Uranium Sales To India
SYDNEY, Aug 12, 2010 (AFP) - Australia's opposition Thursday vowed to sell uranium to nuclear power India if elected this month, while the ruling Labor party stressed broader Asia-Pacific engagement and UN ties.
New uranium sales would form part of a stronger relationship with India including a free trade agreement and defence co-operation, shadow foreign minister Julie Bishop said.
Foreign Minister Stephen Smith and his conservative rival Bishop debated foreign policy for the first time ahead of knife-edge August 21 elections, laying out contrasting visions.
Smith touted his government's record since taking office in 2007, saying Labor had restored "neglected" ties with the United Nations and key countries in the Pacific, including Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands.
Australia had withdrawn combat troops from Iraq while maintaining good relations with the United States, which Smith described as "the bedrock of our strategic security and defence arrangements".
It had also played a key role in establishing the G20 as the premier international economic institution, he said, calling it "the most significant achievement of Australian foreign policy since APEC became a leaders' meeting".
"This is the century of the Asia-Pacific: economic, strategic, security, military influence is moving in our direction," Smith said.
Looking ahead, he said climate change, poverty and terrorism were among the world's chief concerns and Labor would take a "three-pillar" approach, emphasising relations with the US, UN and Asia-Pacific nations.
By contrast Bishop said the Liberal/National coalition -- currently trailing Labor by the slimmest of margins in the election race -- would look beyond the Asia-Pacific to the Indian Ocean region, and step back from the UN.
"Multilateral institutions are important and Australian will continue to play an active role, but Australia has much to gain from enhanced bilateral relationships," the shadow foreign minister said.
She said Japan would return to a position of "priority treatment" and flagged closer links with Indonesia, painting China as a nation fraught with challenges as well as opportunities.
"India is now our eighth largest trading partner. We will reinstate the in-principle decision to sell uranium to India and we will resume a free trade agreement and greater defence co-operation: we are natural maritime partners," she said.
Bishop also stressed that the relationship with the United States, while key to Australia's strategic interests, should "never be taken for granted".
Australia has 27 percent of the world's uranium reserves. The centre-left Labor government has said it will only be sold to nations that are signatories to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which does not include India.
SYDNEY, Aug 12, 2010 (AFP) - Australia's opposition Thursday vowed to sell uranium to nuclear power India if elected this month, while the ruling Labor party stressed broader Asia-Pacific engagement and UN ties.
New uranium sales would form part of a stronger relationship with India including a free trade agreement and defence co-operation, shadow foreign minister Julie Bishop said.
Foreign Minister Stephen Smith and his conservative rival Bishop debated foreign policy for the first time ahead of knife-edge August 21 elections, laying out contrasting visions.
Smith touted his government's record since taking office in 2007, saying Labor had restored "neglected" ties with the United Nations and key countries in the Pacific, including Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands.
Australia had withdrawn combat troops from Iraq while maintaining good relations with the United States, which Smith described as "the bedrock of our strategic security and defence arrangements".
It had also played a key role in establishing the G20 as the premier international economic institution, he said, calling it "the most significant achievement of Australian foreign policy since APEC became a leaders' meeting".
"This is the century of the Asia-Pacific: economic, strategic, security, military influence is moving in our direction," Smith said.
Looking ahead, he said climate change, poverty and terrorism were among the world's chief concerns and Labor would take a "three-pillar" approach, emphasising relations with the US, UN and Asia-Pacific nations.
By contrast Bishop said the Liberal/National coalition -- currently trailing Labor by the slimmest of margins in the election race -- would look beyond the Asia-Pacific to the Indian Ocean region, and step back from the UN.
"Multilateral institutions are important and Australian will continue to play an active role, but Australia has much to gain from enhanced bilateral relationships," the shadow foreign minister said.
She said Japan would return to a position of "priority treatment" and flagged closer links with Indonesia, painting China as a nation fraught with challenges as well as opportunities.
"India is now our eighth largest trading partner. We will reinstate the in-principle decision to sell uranium to India and we will resume a free trade agreement and greater defence co-operation: we are natural maritime partners," she said.
Bishop also stressed that the relationship with the United States, while key to Australia's strategic interests, should "never be taken for granted".
Australia has 27 percent of the world's uranium reserves. The centre-left Labor government has said it will only be sold to nations that are signatories to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which does not include India.
