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

India has long eyed Australia’s uranium to help meet a target of 100 gigawatts of nuclear energy capacity by 2047.Australia and India have signed an agreement to export Australian uranium to India for use in the nuclear energy industry.“We have signed an important agreement today on nuclear energy,” Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Thursday after talks with his Australian counterpart, Anthony Albanese, in Melbourne.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3IAEA demands verification of Iran nuclear ambitions amid ‘statement war’list 2 of 3UN watchdog, Western nations call on Iran to restart nuclear cooperationlist 3 of 3N Korea’s Kim Jong Un calls for ‘exponential’ expansion of nuclear arsenalend of list“This will pave the way for uranium supplies from Australia to India and give our clean energy objectives fresh momentum.”A joint statement said the arrangement allowed long-term uranium exports for “exclusively peaceful purposes”.India has long eyed Australia’s uranium reserves, which make up around 28 percent of the world’s supply, to help meet a target of 100 gigawatts of nuclear energy capacity by 2047 while Australia is looking to diversify trade beyond its reliance on China, its top partner.The exports would fall under safeguards established by the International Atomic Energy Agency, the global nuclear watchdog.“The arrangement facilitates Australian uranium exports to India to help increase the share of non-fossil-fuel power capacity,” Albanese told reporters.An abandoned uranium mine in the Australian vastness , photographed with a drone in May 2025 [File: Getty Images]India and Australia entered a nuclear cooperation agreement in 2014. However, Australia has exported limited supplies of uranium to India over concerns that the material could be used to make weapons.Modi and Albanese also agreed to strengthen defence cooperation and bolster supply chains for critical minerals.