India and Australia are likely to finalise a safeguards agreement during Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard's visit to New Delhi next week. She is arriving in New Delhi on Monday for a three-day state visit.It is understood that during her visit to India Ms.Gillard will be looking at opening up negotiations on a safeguard treaty that would be required before uranium exports could commence. In December last year, Australia's ruling Labour Party led by Ms.Gillard cleared the way for export of Australian uranium to India after a strong debate on the floor of the party's 46th national conference.
Despite resistance from opponents, the landmark policy change was carried out, paving the way for the first Australian country-to-country agreement to sell the yellow cake to a country outside the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.Australia's known uranium resources are the world's largest which is 31 per cent of the world total. In 2011-12 Australia produced 7,700 tonnes of uranium oxide concentrate. It is the world's third-ranking producer, behind Kazakhstan and Canada,according to the World Nuclear Association.
During her visit, Gillard will hold a chief executives forum as part of moves to strengthen business ties between the two countries.Trade between Australia and India has been growing more than 10 per cent in recent years and two-way goods trade has grown from about 3.3 billion US Dollars in 2000 to more than 20 billionUS Dollars last year.
Ms.Gillard will meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and other senior government ministers, apart from calling on President Pranab Mukherjee and Congress party leader Sonia Gandhi. She will also meet leader of the opposition Sushma Swaraj. She last visited India as deputy prime minister in 2009.
Gillard will also launch an Australian cultural festival called “Ozfest”, which is to run until February and include over 100 events in 18 Indian cities.She would be seeing a cricket clinic run in a slum by a local non-government organisation 'Magic Bus' which receives funding and technical support from the Australian Sports Commission.
Four Aboriginal cricketers from the Australian indigenous cricket development squad, captain Josh Lalor, from Victoria, Benjamin Abbatengelo (Victoria), Dylan Fuller (Northern Territory), and D'Arcy Short (Western Australia) will be touring with her.
