Australian PM 'inclined' to cancel his visit to India amid bushfire crisis

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on January 3 that he was inclined to cancel his official trip to India planned for this month in order to deal with bushfire crisis escalating in parts of his country. When he was asked about his visit to India, Morrison replied by saying that he was 'inclined not to proceed'. This comes after the Australian PM faced criticism for 'abandoning' Australia and going on a holiday break last month while his country battled unprecedented fires and a record-breaking heatwave. 

Morrison is due to visit India from January 13 to 16 on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's invitation. Along with India, Australian PM is also due to visit Japan from January 16 to 17 but reportedly did not mention his intentions regarding the second trip of 2020.

State Premier Gladys Berejiklian said Thursday that the emergency declaration would come into effect from Friday morning, 3 November as weather conditions are expected to deteriorate significantly on Saturday, raising the fire danger even further.

Read - Australia Wildfires Release Enormous Smoke Plumes

This is the third time NSW has declared a state of emergency in the several months, the last two being in November and December. The previous emergency calls were also for seven days and granted extraordinary powers to the Rural Fire Service. The residents could also be subjected to forced evacuations, road closures along with other necessary means in order to keep the citizens safe. Berejiklian said she wants to be prepared for what could be a 'horrible day on Saturday'.  

Read - Australia: Firefighter's Toddler Receives Bravery Award In His Father's Honour

Climate change policies criticised

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has accepted criticism on behalf of his government's climate change policies. It was because of dry conditions that brought about an early start to the fires. Australia has also been criticised at the United Nations summit in Madrid because of its climate change measures as it uses old carbon credits to count future emission targets. After two fire responders lost their lives while trying to douse fires, Morrison said that he was aware of the fact and people were bound to get upset. 

As firefighters battle against raging wildfires in Australia, massive bushfires were fanned across the state of New South Wales with two bushfires around Sydney in what was termed as an emergency level. According to reports, a lot of major roads going towards the south and west direction around the city of Sydney were shut down. Also, the concerned officials asked all the residents to slightly delay their holiday plans, with warnings about the raging wildfires due to soaring temperatures above 40 degrees. 

Read - Australia Bushfires: New South Wales Declares State Of Emergency For 7 Days

Read - Twitterati Accuse Australia PM Scott Morrison Of Placing Cricket Above Bushfire Victims