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Congress MP Jairam Ramesh on Friday dismissed the BJP's claim that Australia's decision to supply uranium to India was a diplomatic breakthrough achieved by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying BJP leaders and supporters should "do their homework" and pointing to developments that began in 2011 following the India-US Civil Nuclear Agreement.
In a post on X, Ramesh cited media reports from 2011 to argue that Australia's decision to permit uranium sales to India predated the Modi government. "The BJP ecosystem is on an overdrive to show that Australia's uranium sales to India are a Modi breakthrough. On Dec 4, 2011, Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard got approval of her party to sell uranium to India following the India-US Nuclear Agreement of Oct 2008. The BJP trolls - that include some of its MPs too - need to do their homework better," Ramesh said. https://x.com/i/status/2075440551453958229 Ramesh also shared several media reports published in 2011, asserting that the policy shift by Australia was made possible due to the India-US Civil Nuclear Agreement negotiated during the Congress-led UPA government. Earlier on Thursday, the Congress leader had said the implementation of the India-Australia uranium supply arrangement was rooted in the landmark civil nuclear agreement signed between India and the United States in 2008 under then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. He had alleged that the BJP had opposed the agreement when it was debated in Parliament and claimed that the Congress had laid the foundation for India's access to global civil nuclear cooperation. The remarks came a day after India and Australia finalised the administrative arrangement under the Civil Nuclear Cooperation Agreement signed in 2014, enabling the operationalisation of long-term Australian uranium exports to India for peaceful purposes. Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said the administrative arrangement had remained pending due to differences over reporting procedures, but after extensive discussions over the past two years, both countries resolved the outstanding issues, paving the way for commercial contracts between Australian uranium suppliers and Indian importers. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his visit to Australia, described the agreement as an important step that would strengthen India's clean energy goals. (ANI)
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