An Australian Military attache will resume his post in India two years after he was ordered home in protest at New Delhi's nuclear testing programme, officials said o,n Saturday. However, in a significant diplomatic signal, the defence attache's post in Pakistan, which also conducted nuclear weapons tests in 1998, will remain vacant.
Army Colonel Paul Power will return to the New Delhi mission after being withdrawn in May 1998, defence officials said. "He will resume his duties this month, with an Indian counterpart now expected to be posted to Canberra shortly," a defence spokesman said. A spokesman for Defence Minister John Moore said that Power's appointment was part of the process of restoring military ties. Ministerial contact resumed in February 1999, with further restoration of ties cemented by Prime Minsiter John Howard's visit to India last July. Bureau Report