Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison attends a press conference at Parliament House in Canberra, Australia (File Photo: Xinhua/Bai Xu/IANS)

Australia PM cancels India trip over bushfire crisis

January 4, 2020

Morrison has called an emergency meeting of the National Security Committee (NSC) on Saturday to discuss escalating the military response to bushfires, which were expected to be exacerbated by catastrophic weather conditions … reports Asian Lite News

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison attends a press conference at Parliament House in Canberra, Australia (Xinhua/Bai Xu/IANS)

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has cancelled an official visit to India amid the ongoing bushfire crisis in his country that has so far killed at least 20 people and has destroyed thousands of acres of land.

Morrison on Friday called his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi on the phone to inform him about the cancellation of his four-day trip which was to begin from January 13, Xinhua news agency quoted sources as saying.

Morrison has called an emergency meeting of the National Security Committee (NSC) on Saturday to discuss escalating the military response to bushfires, which were expected to be exacerbated by catastrophic weather conditions.

“The role of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) will become greater and greater in the days ahead, particularly when the things they do, the airlifting, the evacuations, the engineering support, the ­accommodation, the evacuation centres,” Morrison told the media here on Friday.

“All of this (will) become more and more required as these fires get larger and larger.”

When asked if he has requested additional firefighting support from overseas, Morrison said “of course”.

Temperatures across Victoria and New South Wales (NSW), the two states that have been hardest-hit by the fires in recent days, were expected to exceed 40 degrees Celsius on Saturday.

Previous Story

Sri Lanka FM to visit India

Next Story

US kills Iran’s General Qasem Soleimani

Latest from -Top News

UK reimposes UN sanctions on Iran

London triggers snapback mechanism with France and Germany, restoring strict UN measures targeting Tehran’s nuclear and missile programmes…reports Asian Lite News The

UN Reactivates Sanctions on Iran

Iran President Masoud Pezeshkian insisted last week that the country had no intention of developing nuclear weapons….reports Asian Lite News The United

UAE seeks peace in Gaza

H.H. Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, met with Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of