Pranab to visit Australia with hopes of rebuilding nuclear ties

  • 18/06/2008

  • Indian Express (New Delhi)

Even as the Indo-US nuclear deal is stuck in what Prime Minister Manmohan Singh calls "domestic politics', External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee is headed for uranium-rich Australia for a three-day visit beginning this Saturday. The visit, between June 21 and 24, will be important from India's nuclear point of view since Australia is a key member of the Nuclear Suppliers' Group (NSG). The fact that the UPA-Left committee on the nuclear deal will meet on June 25, immediately after Mukherjee's return, makes its timing even more significant. Mukherjee is expected to convey India's commitment to "universal and non-discriminatory' disarmament, as was reiterated by the PM at an international conference titled