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Canberra: Australia will keep its ban on selling uranium to India because of New Delhi's refusal to sign the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said on Monday.
Smith restated his government's position ahead of meeting Indian External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee in Canberra later on Monday.
“We've had as a party a long standing policy position of only exporting uranium to countries who are party to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty," Smith told Sky News television.
“India for its own reasons is not a party to that," he added.
The former Australian government followed the United States' lead by investigating the possibility of exporting the nuclear fuel to India despite its refusal to ratify the treaty. But Prime Minister Kevin Rudd reaffirmed the ban after winning elections in November.
Smith said Australia needed to strengthen its ties to India, which he described as an emerging economic powerhouse.
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