India, Australia hold 7th round of dialogue on disarmament, non-proliferation
The two sides discussed developments in the areas of nuclear, chemical, biological disarmament and non-proliferation, outer space security-related matters, conventional weapons, including AI in the military domain and multilateral export control regimes.
The Dialogue facilitated enhanced mutual understanding and appreciation of national perspectives and global developments on non-proliferation and disarmament issues, which will contribute to the India-Australia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, as per the statement.
The Indian delegation was led by Muanpuii Saiawi, Joint Secretary (Disarmament and International Security Affairs), Ministry of External Affairs and the Australian delegation was led by Vanessa Wood, Ambassador for Arms Control and Counter-Proliferation, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the statement said.
Earlier on March 30, 2021, the sixth round of India-Australia Dialogue on Disarmament, Non-Proliferation and Export Control was held virtually on Tuesday, wherein the two sides discussed contemporary issues of mutual interest.
According to a statement from the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), both countries exchanged views on issues in the areas of nuclear, chemical, biological disarmament and non-proliferation, conventional weapons, outer space security and strategic export control.
The dialogue facilitated enhanced mutual understanding and appreciation of national perspectives and global developments on non-proliferation and disarmament issues that will contribute to the India-Australia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, the MEA statement said.
Meanwhile, Australian Army Chief Lt General Simon Stuart arrived in New Delhi for an official visit. On Monday, he met the senior leadership of the Indian Armed Forces.
The Australian Army Chief will travel to Agra tomorrow to visit the 50 (Independent) Parachute Brigade, also known as the Shatrujeet Brigade, a specialised airborne formation of the Indian Army headquartered in Agra.
It is known for its rapid deployment capabilities and is directly under the command of the Director General of Military Operations (DGMO). The brigade is composed of airborne battalions, artillery batteries, a field hospital, signal and engineer units, making it a self-contained, highly mobile force.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Times of Oman
2 hours ago
- Times of Oman
CII welcomes next-generation upcoming GST reforms announced by PM Modi during I-Day speech
New Delhi: Industry body Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has welcomed the upcoming reforms in Goods and Services Tax (GST) as announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi from the Red Fort during his Independence Day address to the nation. "On behalf of Indian industry, the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) warmly welcomes the Hon'ble Prime Minister's visionary announcement today of next-generation Goods and Services Tax (GST) reforms. This landmark step reflects the Government's deep commitment to building a simpler, more transparent, and growth-oriented tax regime that will empower businesses and benefit consumers alike," said Chandrajit Banerjee, Director General, CII. The announcement of a high-powered committee to review and recommend comprehensive improvements in the GST framework is both timely and forward-looking. It acknowledges the need for a tax system that keeps pace with India's fast-evolving economy, while ensuring predictability and stability for investors, businesses, and entrepreneurs, said CII. "We particularly commend the Government for incorporating many of the suggestions consistently advocated by CII and industry, such as: moving towards a two-rate structure (in the overall context of converged rates, besides the one for Demerit Goods) to simplify the tax system and eliminate ambiguities. Correcting inverted duty structures, which have hampered competitiveness in key manufacturing sectors. Reducing compliance burden for MSMEs, thereby enabling greater participation of small enterprises in the formal economy. Ensuring predictability and stability in tax rates will provide confidence to both domestic and global investors," CII DG said. "These measures are expected to have a far-reaching positive impact on ease of doing business, reduce costs across value chains, and accelerate the process of formalisation and digitisation of the economy. Importantly, the emphasis on lowering tax rates for essential goods while rationalising higher rates for luxury and sin products reflects a balanced approach of equity and efficiency, benefiting both consumers and the exchequer," the CII DG said. Since its introduction, GST has been a transformative reform, unifying the national market, reducing cascading of taxes, and creating a technology-driven compliance system. With today's announcements, India is poised to enter a GST 2.0 era--streamlined, globally benchmarked, and capable of supporting India's ambition to become a USD 5 trillion economy in the near future. CII further added that it commends the Government for its inclusive and consultative approach, wherein the voices of industry and other stakeholders have been given due weightage in shaping this reform roadmap. We stand ready to work closely with the Ministry of Finance, the GST Council, and other stakeholders to ensure the smooth implementation of these landmark reforms, said the CII statement. "CII firmly believes that these measures will further strengthen India's economic foundations, enhance investor confidence, and position the country as one of the world's most competitive and resilient economies", the CII Director General concluded. PM Modi, in his address to the nation, announced that the government will revisit the provisions of GST and reform the structure to ease the common man. After PM's speech, government sources said that the Centre has proposed to scrap the current slab of 12 per cent and 28 per cent of GST rates and keep only 5 per cent and 18 per cent GST rates. They further added that as part of the initiative, 99 per cent of the 12 per cent slab is proposed to move to the 5 per cent slab and 90 per cent of the items in the 28 per cent slab are proposed to move to the 18 per cent slab.
Times of Oman
2 hours ago
- Times of Oman
South Korean Foreign Minister arrives in India on maiden visit
New Delhi: Foreign Minister of South Korea, Cho Hyun, arrived in New Delhi on Friday evening for his maiden visit to India. Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal extended his greetings, noting that the India-South Korea Special Strategic Partnership remains strong and future-oriented. In a post on X, Jaiswal wrote, "Warm welcome to FM Cho Hyun of the Republic of Korea as he arrives in New Delhi on his maiden visit to India. India-South Korea Special Strategic Partnership remains strong & geared towards the future." Korea's Liberation Day coincides with India's Independence Day. Cho Hyun extended his greetings to India after External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar wished him on the occasion. In a post on X, he said, "Dear External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, thank you sincerely for your warm congratulations on Korea's National Liberation Day. Today is also India's Independence Day, and I extend my heartfelt congratulations. I look forward to further deepening the close friendship and cooperation between our two countries. I hope to see you soon!" Jaishankar shared an old snippet of Prime Minister Narendra Modi meeting South Korean President Lee Jae Myung on the sidelines of the G7 Summit at Kananaskis in Canada in June. In a post on X, he said, "Heartfelt congratulations to FM Cho Hyun, the Government and the people of the Republic of Korea on their National Liberation Day. Look forward to welcoming you to India." Marking the twin celebrations, the Korean Embassy in India released a video in which Korean diplomats conveyed Independence Day wishes in Hindi. "Letter from the Korean Embassy on Independence Day, in Hindi. Watch as our Korean Diplomats at the Embassy wish you a Happy Independence Day," the Embassy said. Meanwhile, the Indian Embassy in Seoul celebrated the 79th Independence Day. In a post on X, the Embassy said, "The Indian diaspora in South Korea joyfully celebrated the 79th Independence Day at the Indian Embassy in Seoul. Ambassador Amit Kumar unfurled the Indian flag, read the Hon'ble President's Address to the Nation. The event featured vibrant cultural performances by the members of the Indian community. The captivating performances highlighted India's rich cultural heritage, with diaspora members delivering captivating performances that instilled pride and joy in the audience."
Times of Oman
13 hours ago
- Times of Oman
India: Food items, products of daily use by common people to attract 5% GST rate under new reforms
New Delhi: Most of the "common man items" are proposed to be moved to the lower GST slab rate of 5 per cent under the GST rationalisation initiative, government sources said on Friday, noting that the Centre will closely engage with states to build a broad-based consensus in the coming weeks. The sources said that food items and daily use items will fall in the 5 per cent GST slab. They said if implemented, this proposal will give a big boost to consumption and will have a positive impact on GDP. They also said the government doesn't require legislative changes to implement this proposal. The proposal comes after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's announcement today during his Independence Day speech that he will make "this Diwali, double Diwali" for the people of the country. He said people are going to get a very big gift on Diwali and the government has embarked on "big reform of GST". The sources said that the Centre's proposal is based on three pillars of structural reforms, rate rationalisation and Ease of Living. The sources said the central government has proposed to scrap the current slab of 12 per cent and 28 per cent of GST rate and keep only 5 per cent and 18 per cent GST rates, government sources said on Friday. They said as part of the initiative, 99 per cent of the 12 per cent slab are proposed to move in 5 per cent slab and 90 per cent of items in 28 per cent slab are proposed to move in the 8 per cent slab. They said that consumer goods kept in 28 per cent slab are proposed to be moved to 18 per cent slab. They also said that a new slab of 40 per cent is proposed for "sin goods" like tobacco and pan masala. The sources said that the proposal on restructuring and new GST slabs will have marginal negative effect on GST collection. They said the proposal has been sent to the Group of Ministers (GoM) to enable constructive and inclusive dialogue. "This will have a big impact on reinvigorating core economic sectors like agriculture, textiles, fertilisers, renewable energy, automotive, handicrafts, healthcare, insurance, construction, transportation," a source said. Sources said a meeting of the GST Council is likely to be held in September-October to consider the proposal. Referring to the pillars of structural reforms, rate rationalisation and Ease of Living, the sources said that structural reforms include correction on invested duty structure (IDS), aligning input and output tax in key sectors to eliminate IDS, supporting domestic value addition and improving liquidity specially for MSMEs. Classification issues would be resolved and there will be streamlining of tax structure on namkeen, savouries. The sources said that long-term clarity in rates will enable better business planning Referring to rate rationalization, the sources said there will be simple tax and two-rate structure of merit and standard goods keeping focus on common people and students. Another significant decision, the sources said, would be reduction in rate of equipment used by farmers, which will help increase production. Sources said in terms of ease of living and compliances, the reforms propose to provide registration to 95 percent of cases within three days. There is a proposal to implement pre-filled returns to reduce manual intervention. The process would eliminate mismatch and compliance burden to multiple notices and there would be faster and automated processing of refunds for exporters and those with IDS, the sources said. In his speech from the ramparts of Red Fort in Friday, PM Modi said the government is coming with the next generation of GST reforms. "This Diwali, I am going to make it a double Diwali for you. This Diwali, you fellow countrymen are going to get a very big gift. In the last 8 years, we have done a big reform of GST, reduced the tax burden across the country, simplified the tax regime and after 8 years, the need of the hour is that we should review it once. We started the review by setting up a high-power committee and also held discussions with the states," PM Modi said. "We are coming with the next generation of GST reforms, this will be a gift for you this Diwali, taxes needed by the common man will be reduced substantially, a lot of facilities will be increased. Our MSMEs, our small entrepreneurs, will get a huge benefit. Everyday items will become very cheap and that will also give a new boost to the economy," he added.
