Australia's new government told an Indian envoy Tuesday that it will not sell uranium to his country while it is not a member of the global nonproliferation treaty.
The comments uphold a policy that would scuttle the previous government's plans to start negotiating a uranium trade with India to fuel the country's skyrocketing demand for electricity.
Foreign Minister Stephen Smith, appointed after the Labor Party ousted former Prime Minister John Howard's government last November, held talks Tuesday with Shyam Saran, a representative of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
After the talks, Smith told reporters he had reiterated Labor's policy on uranium sales.
"We went into the election with a strong policy commitment we would not export uranium to nation-states who are not members of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty," Smith said.
While Australia's turnaround is a setback for India, it will not cripple its programs, according to analysts.
"It is a problem, but it is not an irreversible one," said K. Subrahmanyam, a former member of India's National Security Council. "Australia has one of the largest reserves of uranium but there are other nations which also have it."
Under the civilian nuclear deal between India and the United States -- which has yet to be passed by either side -- the U.S. agreed to supply India's civilian reactors with nuclear fuel. In the event the U.S. was unable to do so, India would find another supplier.
Saran did not comment after the meeting, but Smith said Saran was not surprised by the position.
The Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty provides civil nuclear trade in exchange for a pledge from nations not to pursue nuclear weapons. India became a nuclear-armed power in 1998 and has refused to sign the treaty.
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