Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard, who is on a three day visit to the country, has said that the export of uranium from her country to energy hungry India is not likely to begin anytime soon.

She is aiming to set groups for the beginning of the negotiations on the safeguards agreement with India. She indicated that the negotiations will take one or two years and not months, as earlier thought. Many believe that the launch of nuclear negotiations could lead to a mutually respectable civil nuclear energy deal between the two commonwealth nations.

A civil nuclear deal could pave the way for the betterment in the ties between the two countries. Gillard said that the government will ensure during the negotiations that a agreement is formularized in order to make sure that the uranium from Australia is used only for peaceful purposes.

Gillard is scheduled to meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and hold discussions relating to civil nuclear cooperation and strengthening of relations in areas like trade and investment, science and technology and education.

Australia is home to 450,000 Indians and the two countries share a common history under the British Empire. However, the relationship between the two countries has not matured to the level of strong alliance. India's nuclear program and subsequent Australia's refusal to sell uranium to India has kept the relationship from growing, according to experts.