Australia, India Strike Landmark Deal

on Uranium Exports During PM Modi's Visit

Report By Y-Trendz

Melbourne/New Delhi, July 9, 2026 — Australia and India have signed a long-awaited agreement to enable Australian uranium exports to India, marking a major breakthrough in the two countries' nuclear

energy cooperation after more than a decade of delays. The deal was finalized in Melbourne during a state visit by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who met with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese as part of an annual leaders' summit between the two nations.

A Decade in the Making

The agreement builds on a nuclear cooperation pact the two countries first signed in 2014, which permitted uranium exports to India but was never fully enacted. Exports stalled for years amid Australian concerns that the nuclear material could eventually be diverted toward India's weapons program rather than used solely for civilian energy production.

Thursday's administrative arrangement removes the remaining obstacles to implementing that earlier deal. Under the new terms, uranium supplied by Australia is intended strictly for "exclusively peaceful purposes," according to a joint statement issued by the two governments, with the material to be used for energy generation under International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards and continued separation of India's civilian and military nuclear programs.

"We have signed an important agreement today on nuclear energy," Modi said following the talks. "This will pave the way for uranium supplies from Australia to India and give our clean energy objectives fresh momentum."

Albanese echoed the sentiment, framing the deal as both a strategic and economic milestone. "Australia and India are close partners and even closer friends," he told reporters in Melbourne. "The arrangement facilitates Australian uranium exports to India to help increase the share of non-fossil fuel power capacity, providing an additional market for the Australian resources sector."

Neither leader disclosed specific details on the volume of uranium to be exported or a timeline for when shipments would begin.

India's Nuclear Ambitions

The deal is central to India's push to dramatically expand its nuclear energy capacity. New Delhi has set a target of reaching 100 gigawatts of nuclear power capacity by 2047, and securing reliable uranium supplies from Australia — home to some of the world's largest uranium reserves — is seen as key to meeting that goal.

India's access to global uranium markets was significantly widened in 2008, when the Nuclear Suppliers Group granted the country a waiver allowing it to purchase uranium from member states despite not being a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. India has since worked to convert that opening into a series of bilateral supply agreements, including a similar pact signed with Canada in March.

Broader Strategic Push

The uranium agreement was accompanied by a wider set of commitments between Canberra and New Delhi. The two countries pledged to deepen cooperation in renewable energy, critical minerals and green hydrogen, and agreed to strengthen defense and security ties across the Indo-Pacific region — language the joint statement described as marking a significant deepening in the scope and ambition of the relationship, though the two leaders notably did not mention China by name in their remarks.

Modi and Albanese also announced plans to build a temporary space tracking terminal on Australia's Cocos Keeling Islands in the Indian Ocean, which would support Indian space flight missions. On the investment front, Australia's largest pension fund, AustralianSuper, announced it would commit a further A$500 million (about US$347 million) to India's National Investment and Infrastructure Fund, while Modi urged Australian businesses to invest in India's roads, ports, rail and urban infrastructure.

Trade ties between the two countries continue to expand. India is now Australia's fifth-largest trading partner, with two-way trade in goods and services reaching 54.4 billion Australian dollars (roughly US$37.7 billion) in the 2024–2025 financial year. Analysts note that Australia has been actively working to diversify its export markets beyond China, its top trading partner, making India an increasingly important economic and strategic partner in the Indo-Pacific.

A Warm Reception

Modi's visit drew large crowds in Melbourne, with thousands of supporters from the Indian diaspora turning out to see the prime minister, waving flags and chanting his name at a community event at Docklands Stadium. A small group of around two dozen far-right protesters also gathered nearby, shouting anti-immigration slogans, though they were vastly outnumbered by well-wishers.

This marked Modi's third visit to Australia as prime minister, following earlier trips in 2014 and 2023. His 2014 visit had ended a 28-year gap since the last visit by an Indian premier, Rajiv Gandhi, in 1986. "It's a hat-trick this time," Modi told the crowd, calling it a reflection of how far the India-Australia relationship has come.

Modi's Australia visit came after a stop in Indonesia, where he signed a series of defense and agricultural agreements, including one related to the BrahMos cruise missile system. He was scheduled to travel to New Zealand on Friday — his first visit to that country — before returning to India.