Thanks for throwing some light on India-China Graham. I was in India in 1981 and was surprised to learn many things about China, Russia and the bordering countries, from reading the Indian newlspapers, which are in English. I realized how parochial and ignorant we in Australia are when it comes to history and events in that part of the world.

There is still a gaping information hole in our 'censored' News Ltd dominated press.

Agree that the focus should now be on disarmament rather than keeping non-nuclear countries out.

Dont agree that nuclear is the only way for India's energy. Photovoltaics are the answer for the poor villages, some of which I saw had powerlines to them but they couldnt afford to use it.

A poor village I visited in Timor recently had a solar panel and battery which ran a TV for an hour plus lighting in the evenings; cost only several hunderd dollars.

There are no threats from China.The real danger is the USA and its NATO allies.How many countries has China invaded.The USA is currently in 6.This is all about Corporate Imperialism.Notice how the attention has moved from their contrived terrorism to aggressive words towards Iran,Syria and even China.

They are trying to keep India on the side of the West so we were told to sell them Uranium.

Graham. Cogent and very well communicated take on this recent decision. Why has it taken so long I wonder. Agree with Roses1 that there is a place for photovoltaic power in some locations, but poverty reducing base load power requires the 'heavy lifting' capacity only currently available through nuclear/hydro/coal driven generators.
Allow me a 'Pipe dream' for a moment..... Process our yellocake into fuel rods, bar-code them for tracking and verification, lease the rods for whomever and return used fuel for storage here (for a fee of course).... As I say, a somewhat pragmatic pipe dream huh? Try getting that one past the Hon Senator Brown.

Julia has tentatively put the word out, to test the heat of the idea. There's no mention of what circumstances may go with any future deal. Bob Brown has now got something to campaign on, for the next hung parliament. The thing is if India doesn't get it from here, they get it from elsewhere, so it is a prohibition on export.

Graham, what is happening with India getting sold Uranium is part of a much, much bigger set of movements in international diplomacy. First we have the tension in the Sino-Indian relationship (not too many people realise they have fought several times - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sino-Indian_relations#Sino-Indian_War) and the Sino-Pakistani relationship (with China providing massive support to Pakistan). The worlds two most populated nations share an awfully long border and one side has been stirring the pot for an awfully long time. From many perspectives, the potential for real conflict is massive, ever-present and extremely real. India is also a major component part of the Commonwealth, which is once again beginning to show it's teeth as a major player on the world scene. A South-Asian bloc, headed by India, with the support of the Commonwealth, is actually looking like a realistic outcome at present.

Meanwhile, we have an equally real problem in the South-China Sea (http://www.japantoday.com/category/commentary/view/south-china-sea-a-complex-territorial-dispute), with a South-East Asian Bloc being built as we speak (consisting of Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam, etc.) uniting to secure themselves against an overly pushy neighbour. This is the basic premise of the latest range of diplomacy in Bali. India is also going to explore the South China sea (payback for China pushing into Iran/Pakistan).

But China is not the peaceful Country it is being made out to be here, the Chinese have invaded India, they have invaded Tibet, Vietnam, South Korea, they continue to support the Maoist rebels in India and in the Philippines, while historically they are behind North Korea, the Communist insurgency in Malaya, etc. They have also deliberately inflamed the situation between Pakistan/India for decades.

Should we sell Uranium to India? We sold it to France from 1977 (they signed in 1992) despite them developing weapons through the 1960's. Why? Because they are, ostensibly at least, our ally. It is (and was) in our best interest to so do. The same can be said of India today.