UK to allow exports of nuclear technology to India.

THE British government has announced it will allow the export of civil nuclear technology to India as the Prime Minister, David Cameron, began his first visit to the subcontinent.

The announcement came as Israel reacted furiously to accusations Mr Cameron made earlier, en route to India, when he said the Jewish state had turned the Gaza Strip into a prison camp.

The decision to allow closer civil nuclear co-operation with India is a sign of Mr Cameron's desire to forge what he called a ''new relationship'' between the two countries at a speech in Bangalore yesterday.

British nuclear co-operation with India has previously been limited because New Delhi is not a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. However, the Business Secretary, Vince Cable, who is travelling with Mr Cameron, said British companies stood to benefit from the change.

''There is already a declaration under which a certain amount of modest research can take place - we want to take this to a higher level,'' he said.

Britain's shift on nuclear policy towards India follows a historic nuclear co-operation deal between India and the US in 2008 that allowed India access to global nuclear commerce, despite not being a nuclear treaty signatory.

Despite pressure from New Delhi, the Australian government continues to ban the sale of uranium to India because it is not a signatory.

Mr Cameron is heading what Downing Street describes as ''the largest UK trade delegation in living memory'' to India.

During an earlier stop in Ankara, Turkey, Mr Cameron called for immediate progress towards a resolution of the Israel-Palestinian conflict. ''The situation in Gaza has to change,'' Mr Cameron said. ''Humanitarian goods and people must flow in both directions. Gaza cannot and must not be allowed to remain a prison camp.''

Mr Cameron added that Britain had long supported the lifting of Israel's blockade of Gaza, which it has maintained since the Islamic resistance movement, Hamas, took control of the tiny Palestinian enclave more than three years ago.

Speaking later at a press conference with the Prime Minister of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Mr Cameron defended himself.

''My description of Gaza is something I said in the House of Commons several weeks ago,'' he said. ''Perhaps this is final proof that if you want to keep something completely secret you should announce it in the House of Commons.''

But the Israeli ambassador to Britain, Ron Prosor, responded by blaming Hamas for the situation in Gaza. ''The people of Gaza are the prisoners of the terrorist organisation Hamas,'' Mr Prosor said. ''The situation in Gaza is the direct result of Hamas's rule and priorities.''

Mr Prosor also took aim at a striking omission by Mr Cameron: his failure to mention the soldier, Gilad Shalit, who was captured on the Gaza border in 2006 and whose freedom is a cause celebre in Israel.

One Israeli foreign ministry official told the Herald that the comments were not considered overly provocative.

The official pointed to recent actions by the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, to significantly ease restrictions on what goods can enter Gaza through Israeli border crossings.

Source : smh.com.au