Antinuclear

Australia and India strengthening defence ties

 Indian Defence Minister Arrives In Australia, In Serbia, By  Koushik Das  5 June 13 Indian Defence Minister A K Antony Arrived In Perth As A Part Of His Ongoing Three-Nation Tour Of Singapore, Australia And Thailand. The Indian Government Said In A Statement That The Main Objective Of Antony’s Visit Is To Strengthen The Country’s Defence Ties With The Asia Pacific Region.

Upon his arrival in the Australian city, the Indian minister held a meeting with his Australian counterpart Stephen Smith to discuss a number of important bilateral and international issues. Without divulging details of the meeting, New Delhi said that Antony would hold another round of meeting with Smith in Canberra later on Tuesday……

The Stockholm-based International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) recently said that India, Pakistan and China – the three major nuclear powers in Asia – had strengthened their nuclear arsenals in 2012.

In its latest report, the institute said that while China now has 250 nuclear warheads as compared to 240 in 2012, Pakistan has around 120 and India 110. Expressing deep concern over the arms race in the region, SIPRI said:

While states have avoided direct conflict with each other and have stopped supporting insurgent movements on each other’s territory, decades-old suspicions linger and economic integration has not been followed up with political integration.”

According to SIPRI officials, the troubled bilateral relations between India and Pakistan, China and Japan, and South Korea and North Korea encouraged the arms race in Asia.

“Once again there was little to inspire hope that the nuclear weapon-possessing states are genuinely willing to give up their nuclear arsenals. The long-term modernisation programmes underway in these states suggest that nuclear weapons are still a marker of international status and power,” insisted senior SIPRI researcher Shannon Kile. http://inserbia.info/news/2013/06/indian-defence-minister-arrives-in-australia/

June 5, 2013 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | General News