Aus, Indian PMs may meet twice this year
The Prime Ministers of India and Australia are expected to meet twice this year, in bilateral visits that are likely to put the talks on uranium sales back on track.
The Prime Ministers of India and Australia are expected to meet twice this year, in bilateral visits that are likely to put the talks on uranium sales back on track.
Visiting Union Science and Technology Minister Kapil Sibal told local daily The Australian' that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had extended an invitation to his Australian counterpart Kevin Rudd to tour India and diplomats were hopeful of a visit in the second half of the year.
Rudd has also invited Singh to come to Australia, with the hope that it will happen this year, the newspaper said.
Sibal said India was confident that its negotiations with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) would be completed soon, resulting in an India-specific safeguards agreement that would allow nuclear trade with New Delhi.
"Our negotiations are still going on with the IAEA," Sibal said adding, "hopefully they will bear fruit soon. We are very keen to get the IAEA agreement through."
The Indo-US nuclear deal would then move to the 45-member Nuclear Suppliers Group, and it is here that Australia will play a crucial role.
Reversing a policy decision by the previous John Howard administration, the Kevin Rudd government had said last month that it would not sell uranium to India as New Delhi was not a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Australia had also said it has not yet made up its mind on what position it will take within the NSG.
Less time to read?
Try Quickreads
-
Ethiopian Airlines pilots fall asleep on flight, miss landing
New Delhi: Pilots of an aircraft of Ethiopian Airlines fell asleep mid-air and missed landing at Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa, commercial aviation news website Aviation Herald reported late on Thursday. The pilots were later suspended pending an investigation, according to news agency Bloomberg. The incident reportedly took place on Monday when the aircraft was flying from Sudan's Khartoum and was supposed to land at Bole Airport in Addis Ababa.
-
Ex-UK minister Michael Gove backs Rishi Sunak for next PM
Former British cabinet minister Michael Gove on Friday endorsed Rishi Sunak for prime minister and announced an end of his frontline political career, he said in an op-ed in The Times. Gove wrote in the op-ed that he thinks Liz Truss' campaign for 10 Downing Street "has been a holiday from reality." Sunak has the right arguments as they come from his experience of being the chancellor during the COVID-19 pandemic, Gove added.
-
Al-Shabaab attacks hotel in Somalia's Mogadishu, casualties reported
Al-Shabaab fighters attacked a hotel in the Somali capital Mogadishu in a hail of gunfire and explosions on Friday, with casualties reported, security sources and witnesses said. The assault on the Hayat Hotel triggered a fierce gunfight between security forces and gunmen from the jihadist group who are still holed up inside the building, security official Abdukadir Hassan told AFP.
-
Sweden shopping centre shooting: Two injured, one arrested
Swedish police said on Friday two people were injured in a shooting at the Emporia shopping centre in the southern city of Malmo and one suspect has been arrested. Read: Shooting selection policy set for a tweak again The police are on the scene questioning witnesses and going through material from surveillance cameras. Earlier, police said they had cordoned off the area and asked the public to avoid going to the shopping centre.
-
EU backs changing monkeypox vaccine injection method to boost supply
The recommendation is based on a study involving about 500 adults, which compared the performance of the vaccine given either intradermally or subcutaneously, as two doses given about a month apart.
