Israel ready to ratify nuke test ban treaty
AP, Vienna
Israel’s prime minister declared on Monday that his country is prepared to ratify a treaty banning nuclear tests, a senior UN official said after meeting with the Israeli leader. Lassina Zerbo, who heads the UN organisation created to implement the treaty, said that Benjamin Netanyahu considers the issue of ratifying the treaty a matter of “when, rather than if.”
China snubs India over NSG
Dawn.com, New Delhi
China has said that India’s admission to the elite Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) is not on the agenda of the grouping that started a plenary session in Seoul on Monday. India’s NDTV news channel described China’s comments by foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying in Beijing as a rebuff to India’s effort to join the NSG. These followed remarks on Sunday by Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj expressing optimism that Beijing was not obstructing India but only talking of “procedure”.
Putin to visit China this week
PTI, Beijing
Russian President Vladimir Putin will make a state visit to China this week in a bid to consolidate mutual political and strategic trust and inject new impetus to bilateral ties, senior Chinese diplomat said today.
Mr Putin will visit China from June 25 after attending the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation meeting in Tashkent where he will be meeting his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping.
