AUSTRALIA said today Indian prime minister Dr Manmohan Singh’s decision to pull out of a meeting of Commonwealth leaders next week has nothing to do with Canberra’s refusal to sell New Delhi uranium.
Dr Singh has decided to skip the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Perth, hosted by Australian prime minister Julia Gillard, but gave no explanation.
This led some commentators in Australia to conclude it was in retaliation for the Labor party’s policy of not selling uranium to India because it is outside the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
But Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade Secretary Dennis Richardson said that was “flat wrong”.
“There is not the slightest suggestion of that by the Indian government,” he told a Senate estimates committee.
Although Australia uses no nuclear power, it is the world’s third-ranking uranium producer behind Kazakhstan and Canada, exporting some 9,600 tonnes of oxide concentrate annually worth over $1.1bn (£696,852).
It also holds the world’s largest reserves of uranium.
Richardson said Dr Singh’s no-show was related to domestic issues and the fact that CHOGM comes shortly before the G20 leaders summit in France on November 3-4.
“Mr. Singh wishes to limit time out of his country,” he said.
“I’m quite confident that Mr. Singh’s decision does not relate to the issue of uranium.”
Vice president Mohammad Hamid Ansari will instead represent India at the Perth meeting from October 28-29.
Composed mainly of former British colonies, the 54-nation CHOGM will be officially opened by Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II.
CHOGM officials said they expected all other heads of state to attend.
