Uranium Trade and its Security Implications for India

Abstract

Uranium trade and the role it will play in India’s foreign policy and national security is set to grow in the coming decades. India’s interest in uranium is part of a long-term strategy to move towards a more self-sufficient and relatively carbon-free energy future. In the context of India’s fast-expanding uranium trade with, and equity investments in, key uranium producing countries, the contours of the security implications of India’s uranium diplomacy need to be identified. It is important to understand that the import of strategic energy resources is seldom devoid of security implications in one form or the other. Highlighting possible security implications can help strategise a uranium trade policy that is proactive, well informed and holistic in its understanding of what advantages and disadvantages uranium trade poses to the country’s larger energy security. This article identifies seven possible trajectories of the security implications of India’s uranium trade with the world in the coming years.