SM Krishna meets Australian foreign minister Kevin Rudd

External affairs minster SM Krishna met his Australian counterpart Kevin Rudd here today even as he again made a strong pitch to lift ban on uranium sale to India insisting that nuclear power is necessary for energy starved developing countries.

Krishna arrived at the Royal Society of Victoria to attend the seventh round of ministerial dialogue with Rudd. He was accompanied by Vijaya Latha Reddy, secretary (east) and Indian high commissioner to Australia Sujatha Singh.

While Rudd was accompanied by Australian high commissioner to India Peter Verghese and other top officials.

Earlier, in a wide-ranging interview with 'The Age', he said, "Climate change demands we aim at clean energy. It has been accepted by experts that nuclear power is the cleanest power, and India is committed to pursue its nuclear power expansion."

"I think it is necessary that we engage Australia in a continuing dialogue about this question. Here is a situation where you are endowed with enormous deposits of uranium and there is a whole world which is starving for energy -especially the developing countries, and more specifically India," he said.

"India, with the best of intentions, we want energy, nuclear energy," he said, noting the country had already struck nuclear technology agreements with the US, France, Canada and Argentina.

He also said despite India's test of an atomic weapon, the country could be trusted as a responsible nuclear power.

Yesterday, Krishna held talks with Australia's resource, energy and tourism minister Martin Ferguson on uranium sales. After the meeting, Ferguson rejected India's request for the sale of uranium.

Australia has one of the world's largest yellowcake deposits - the fuel for nuclear reactors - but refuses to export to countries that are not signatories to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Ruling Labor overturned a John Howard-era promise in 2007 for an exception to allow exports to India, a decision that reportedly sparked widespread official anger in India. But Krishna yesterday insisted the issue had not disturbed bilateral ties.

Besides, Krishna said India hoped to reach a 10% economic growth rate in the coming year and the resulting explosion of energy needs would be met by moving away from coal-fired power stations.

In the interview, Krishna also backed the Victorian government and police response to violence against Indian students in the past year, despite a sharp drop in the number of Indians now studying in Australia.

Krishna said India was growing economic, education and tourism ties with Australia were the "springboard" for a more mature and strategic partnership in the future.

Krishna said the sharp drop in the number of Indian students in Australia was undoubtedly partly a result of racial violence directed at Indians, which at its height last year become a thorn in ties between the two nations.

But he said tighter Australian restrictions on visa entry, a crackdown on dubious education colleges and the stronger Australian dollar were also factors leading to the decline.

While the Australian figures report an 80 per cent drop in the number of Indian students in Australia compared with this time last year, Krishna said it was probably closer to half that number.

"I think false promises were made to Indian students by education providers in Australia, and as a result of that the Indian student community got disenchanted," he said.

"When such situations are created, it gets reflected back home and the media and the parents of the boys of girls who have come to Australia get worked up."

He said it was still too early to say if India would back Australia's bid for a seat on the UN Security Council in 2013-14 or whether Prime Minister Manmohan Singh would accept an invitation from Prime Minister Julia Gillard to visit Australia later this year.

He also hit out at Pakistan, accusing it of supporting the Taliban in Afghanistan and providing a haven for extremists. Krishna, who was in Afghanistan 10 days ago, said India was under constant threat in the country, with its embassy regularly attacked.

He said Pakistan continued to support the Taliban as its ally and a solution to the conflict could only be found once Pakistan abandoned its patronage of the insurgents.