Australia, India strike deal on uranium exports during PM Modi’s visit

India has agelong eyed Australia’s uranium to assistance conscionable a people of 100 gigawatts of atomic vigor capableness by 2047.

Australia and India person signed an statement to export Australian uranium to India for usage successful the atomic vigor industry.

“We person signed an important statement contiguous connected atomic energy,” Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said connected Thursday aft talks with his Australian counterpart, Anthony Albanese, successful Melbourne.

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“This volition pave the mode for uranium supplies from Australia to India and springiness our cleanable vigor objectives caller momentum.”

A associated connection said the statement allowed semipermanent uranium exports for “exclusively peaceful purposes”.

India has agelong eyed Australia’s uranium reserves, which marque up astir 28 percent of the world’s supply, to assistance conscionable a people of 100 gigawatts of atomic vigor capableness by 2047 portion Australia is looking to diversify commercialized beyond its reliance connected China, its apical partner.

The exports would autumn nether safeguards established by the International Atomic Energy Agency, the planetary atomic watchdog.

“The statement facilitates Australian uranium exports to India to assistance summation the stock of non-fossil-fuel powerfulness capacity,” Albanese told reporters.

An abandoned uranium excavation successful the Australian vastness , photographed with a drone successful May 2025 [File: Getty Images]

India and Australia entered a atomic practice agreement successful 2014. However, Australia has exported constricted supplies of uranium to India implicit concerns that the worldly could beryllium utilized to marque weapons.

Modi and Albanese besides agreed to fortify defence practice and bolster proviso chains for captious minerals.

The 2 nations besides program to physique a “temporary abstraction tracking terminal” connected Australia’s Cocos Keeling Islands successful the Indian Ocean, which volition enactment Indian abstraction formation projects, according to a associated statement.

Albanese praised Modi’s enactment for helping foster stronger ties betwixt the 2 nations.

“Prime Minister Modi, your enactment and your idiosyncratic engagement with Australia has been perfectly cardinal to this change,” Albanese said.

India is Australia’s 5th largest trading partner. Two-way commercialized successful goods and services was valued astatine 54.4 cardinal Australian dollars (US$37.7bn) during the 2024-2025 fiscal year, according to Australian authorities figures.

Modi arrived successful Australia aft visiting Indonesia, wherever helium signed a bid of deals connected agriculture and defence. He volition permission for New Zealand connected Friday earlier returning to India.