The third round of negotiations between the two countries for supply of uranium will begin from November 26.

“I do not see any delay in the negotiations. In fact, they are reaching the third round on the 26thof November and I believe that those negotiations are going ahead. I am sure our negotiators are preparing to be here on the 26th of November. So, I do not see any delay at all,” said the visiting Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop after having talks with the Indian Minister of External Affairs Salman Khurshid here on late Monday evening.

She further said : “We also hope to conclude a civil nuclear cooperation agreement for the supply of Australian uranium. It has been the consistent position of the coalition in Australia that we should supply Australian uranium to India. In the context of that and consistent with our desire to conclude such an agreement, the Australian Government has decided that we will support India’s membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group. And I have informed Foreign Minister Khurshid tonight of the Australian Government’s decision. We have given a detailed consideration since we came into office, and we believe that it is appropriate, given India’s strategic importance in our region and globally, given India’s record on non-proliferation, we think it is appropriate that they should have membership of this Group and so Australia will lend its support.”

Welcoming Indian investment in Australia, she said : “In the economic field we see a significant increase in investment from Indian businesses in Australia and we very much welcome the around US$ 10 billion worth of Indian investment in the Australian economy particularly in the mineral and resources sector.”

The Australian Foreign Minister expressed eagerness to conclude a free trade agreement (FTA) with India. “We hope that Australia and India would be able to conclude a closer economic cooperation agreement or a free trade agreement,” she said.

Assuring to continue Australia-India defence cooperation, Julie Bishop said : “In the area of security cooperation, we see a deeper engagement between our Navies. They will begin joint exercises in 2015. We are also working closely together on maritime security not only through IORA but bilaterally on counterterrorism, on cyber, and these are issues where we can support each other, share information, share ideas and have a deeper and closer engagement.”

Justifying Australia-India-Indonesia trilateral she said : “A trilateral arrangement with Australia-India-Indonesia born out of the Indian Ocean Rim Association will also see us spending a lot of time discussing matters of mutual interest, whether it is maritime security, trade and investment, disaster-relief management and the like.”

Australia has decided to help India in its energy security programme. “We see great opportunities for Australia to be a trusted and reliable supplier of energy and resources for India’s needs, and we recognise India’s need for energy security. Not only are we supplying coal, hopefully LNG, for Australia is a significant exporter of LNG,” she said.

India-Australia CEOs’ Forum is slated to meet shortly. The Indian External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid said : “We welcome the positive investment regime for Indian investments in energy and resources sector. We already have, I think, an impressive footprint on the Australian soil, and I hope that a larger number of Indian companies will look forward to investing in Australia. The CEOs’ forum will meet very soon, and this will be the necessary combined effort of the private sector cooperation to complement and supplement what we can do as Governments together.”

India and Australia signed two agreements on the occasion. Both sides agreed to work towards establishment of Chair of Ecology and Environment Studies at the Nalanda University. A Statement of Intent was signed between Australia and Nalanda University to progress a three year arrangement towards a chair of Ecology and Environment Studies at the University. Amendments to the existing MoU was signed between the Central Board of Excise & Customs of India and the Australian Customs Service on Customs Cooperation for mutual administrative assistance.