After India and Australia signed a landmark agreement to facilitate Australian uranium supplies for India’s civilian nuclear programme, the Congress on Thursday credited the breakthrough to the India-US Civil Nuclear Agreement negotiated during the UPA Government led by former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, while accusing the BJP of having opposed the landmark pact.The uranium supply agreement was among the key outcomes of the third India-Australia Annual Summit held on Thursday between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese. The two countries also unveiled an ambitious roadmap to deepen their Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, deciding to fast-track negotiations on a Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) and expand cooperation in critical minerals, clean energy, cyber technologies and maritime security.Reacting to the development, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh referred to Prime Minister Modi as “Award-Jeevi” and said Australia’s decision to supply uranium to India had become possible “only because” of the India-US Nuclear Cooperation Agreement that became law on October 8, 2008.Ramesh said the negotiations for the agreement were initiated after Dr Manmohan Singh’s meeting with then US President George W Bush in July 2005, describing it as the turning point that paved the way for India’s integration into the global civil nuclear order after decades of isolation.He alleged that the BJP had opposed the agreement throughout its passage, both inside and outside Parliament, despite the strategic and energy benefits it promised for the country.”The Congress creates turning points while the BJP specialises in U-turning points,” Ramesh said.The India-US Civil Nuclear Agreement ended India’s decades-long nuclear isolation by opening the door to civilian nuclear cooperation with several countries. The deal also laid the foundation for subsequent civil nuclear agreements with nations such as Australia, which possesses some of the world’s largest uranium reserves and had earlier restricted uranium exports to India because it is not a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).