By Neena Bhandari
(Opinion piece for Business Standard): From cricket and the Commonwealth, India-Australia bilateral ties have moved to embracing commerce. Recent months have seen Indian companies making huge investments in Australian mines and setting up joint ventures to secure the much needed resources for meeting India’s growing energy needs.
The “U” word, as the issue of uranium sales to India is often referred to in diplomatic circles, made front-page headlines and prime time news, and even dominated talkback radio airwaves. So much so that at the visiting US president and Australian prime minister’s joint press conference, one of the questions asked by an Australian journalist was on uranium exports to India to which President Barack Obama replied, “I will watch with interest what is determined.”
