There is no immediate possibility that Australia will also reconsider selling uranium to other 'suspect' countries outside of India following the Labor-led government's recent decision to resume uranium trade with New Delhi.

That turnaround, according to Defence Minister Stephen Smith, represents Canberra's effort to re-establish closer ties with an emerging economy such as India's, which the senior Labor official described as the biggest democracy in the world.

On an official visit to India, Smith said on Thursday that despite India's refusal to join the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, Australia's decision to reverse its previous policy of prohibiting the sale of uranium to the South Asian nation was based on 'special considerations'.

"The circumstances for India so far as export of uranium is concerned are, in my view, unique," Smith was reported by Agence France Presse (AFP) as saying in explaining the core basis of Canberra's new policy for uranium trade with New Delhi.

The Defence Minister added that Prime Minister Julia Gillard's push for a policy reversal was wholly acceptable by both the Australian Labor Party and the opposition Liberal Party, which during the John Howard government had sanctioned the country's sale of uranium to India.

He, however, was quick to clarify that Australia's new policy regarding India will not necessarily be extended to Pakistan, as he claimed was being suggested by some quarters.

"Pakistan does not have the same record so far as proliferation is concerned. There have been serious expressions of concern about proliferation in the past," Smith pointed out.

On its part, India has issued assurances, Smith said, that it will clearly define the military and civilian aspects of its nuclear programs, apart from pledging that New Delhi will not be a party to any nuclear weapons test.

Also, Ms Gillard had argued that aside from creating job opportunities for many Australians, the resumption of uranium sale to India will improve the two countries' bilateral relations, including their trade and security arrangements.

Smith added that New Delhi has committed to work for closer ties with Canberra now that "an irritant or a grain of sand in the (two nations') relationship is now gone."

Apart from strengthening the economic ties between Australia and India, Smith also revealed that Indian officials have expressed openness over Canberra's recent military pact with the United States, which allows the latter to deploy American troops on Australian territory.

"India also understands that Australia has a strong view that the engagement of the United States in the Asia Pacific, indeed the enhanced engagement of the United States in the Asia Pacific, is a good thing for peace, prosperity and stability," Smith was quoted by AFP as saying.