Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop inaugurated the new Australian consulate in Chennai on Wednesday, as part of a four day trip to India.
Telling reporters that the Australian Government is keen to deepen its relationship with southern India, Ms Bishop also said, "I am in Chennai to make an announcement of further collaboration between the Australian government and Australian people and the India's Vision Institute.”
“In 2014, a new Vision Screening project was established and the Australian government supported this screening project which enabled children aged between 4-15 from disadvantage backgrounds across about 15 schools in Chennai and Tamil Nadu," Ms Bishop told reporters.
Ms Bishop also met with her Indian counterpart Sushma Swaraj during her visit. Ahead of her meeting Ms Bishop said she expected a deal managing the supply of uranium for India's civil nuclear program.
"India is seen as a trusted and reliable user of nuclear energy. The Australian government is very keen to get the agreement ratified by Parliament. This year the framework (for commercial negotiations) should be in place,'' said Ms Bishop. "We are not going to allow the agreement (for civil nuclear cooperation with India) to fail for lack of creative thinking."
We need your support
Sri Lanka is one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a journalist. Tamil journalists are particularly at threat, with at least 41 media workers known to have been killed by the Sri Lankan state or its paramilitaries during and after the armed conflict.
Despite the risks, our team on the ground remain committed to providing detailed and accurate reporting of developments in the Tamil homeland, across the island and around the world, as well as providing expert analysis and insight from the Tamil point of view
We need your support in keeping our journalism going. Support our work today.
For more ways to donate visit https://donate.tamilguardian.com.
