India has reduced the time period for foreign investors to seek international arbitration from five years to three years as part of the recently signed investment pact with the United Arab Emirates (UAE), a departure from its model Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT). Under the Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) mechanism, if the Indian judicial system is unable to resolve a dispute within this shortened period, investors can resort to international arbitration. The investment pact, signed on February 13 in Abu Dhabi, came into force on August 31, replacing the previous pact.
Chinese President Xi Jinping will make his first state visit to the United States in September, China said on Wednesday, hours after President Barack Obama spoke to him and called for "swift work" to narrow down differences on cyber theft, pace of reform and currency issues.
Trade and economic issues, including visa, totalisation pact and impediments hampering investments, are likely to figure at Monday's US-India CEO Forum meeting, which will be jointly addressed by visiting US President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The income-tax (I-T) department has issued showcause notices under Section 68 of the Income-Tax Act to several startups over funds routed through Singapore, seeking explanations for investments received over the past five years, people familiar with the development said. The department is questioning the source, identity, and creditworthiness of overseas investors in these transactions, they said.
With the new government taking charge in Britain, senior officials of India and the UK will hold the next round of talks this month for the proposed free trade agreement to resolve the pending issues and close the negotiations, an official said. The India-UK talks for the proposed free trade agreement (FTA) began in January 2022. The 14th round of talks stalled as the two nations stepped into their general election cycles.
India will finally sign an investment treaty - the Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (BIPA) - with Myanmar in the first week of April. The pact is going to be of critical interest to a host of oil majors looking at investments in the resource-rich country.According to sources, the treaty will be signed with the approval of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The Cabinet ratification, they say, will come later.
day after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a Rs 1 lakh crore spending package, a top government source said the Centre has not closed its options for another stimulus package.
Minister for Commerce and Industry Kamal Nath, who arrived in Washington had critical bilateral discussions with senior administration and Congressional leaders on issues related to WTO and bilateral issues.
The arbitration of any court is legally binding and the government) can approach the Singapore high court.
'Nearly 10 million people will benefit from the increase in the rebate limit for those earning up to Rs 12 lakh.' 'We expect all that money will come back into the economy in either savings, consumption, or investments.'
India is believed to have challenged in a court in The Hague an arbitration tribunal verdict that overturned its demand for Rs 10,247 crore in back taxes from Cairn Energy Plc -- the second time in three months that it has refused to accept an international award against retrospective tax.
Seasoned American diplomat Nancy Powell, who was sworn in as United States ambassador to India, has identified five priority areas to take the relationship between the two countries to a new level. "Our look forward will encompass: Bolstering trade and investment to reduce barriers, including through negotiation of a bilateral investment treaty, and expansion of the areas where we can do business, including full implementation of the Civil-Nuclear Agreement," Powell said.
'When Prime Minister Modi met President Trump, they agreed to initiate a bilateral trade dialogue.' 'It makes sense to give these negotiations a chance.'
Dutch subsidiary Vodafone International Holdings BV on Tuesday severed a notice of dispute on the Indian government regarding proposals in the Finance Bill 2012 which it claimed violated the international legal protections granted Vodafone and other international investors in India.
Biden, who during his visit to India in 2013 had set the target of increasing the bilateral trade to $500 billion.
'Pakistan has found itself in a favourable position after Operation Sindoor by appreciating the mediation as claimed by Trump and recommending him for the Nobel Peace Prize.'
The Obama administration's point man for South Asia, United States Assistant Secretary of State Robert Blake, tells rediff.com/India Abroad's Aziz Haniffa in this exclusive interview that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton who co-chairs the second US-India Strategic Dialogue with External Affairs Minister S M Krishna on Tuesday
Vedanta to file notice of claim in Cairn India tax case.
India has challenged in a Singapore court a verdict of an international arbitration tribunal that overturned its demand for Rs 22,100 crore in back taxes from Vodafone Group Plc, sources said on Thursday. An international arbitration court had on September 25 rejected tax authorities' demand for Rs 22,100 crore in back taxes and penalties relating to the British telecom giant's 2007 acquisition of an Indian operator. Two sources privy to the development said India had 90 days to file an appeal against the tribunal award, and the same was done in a Singapore court earlier this week.
US companies and lawmakers had urged Kerry to talk tough on policies regarding India's rejection of patent suits.
In the short run, the Trump presidency has already ensured one thing: The assumptions of the past can no longer guide the strategies of the future, points out Manish Dabhade.
It also said that there is a need to improve investor confidence about the surrounding ecosystem in the country to attract more FDI inflows.
The eighth Budget of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman continued to focus on 'GYAN' (Garib, Youth, Annadata, Nari) to maintain a consistent and coherent strategy initiated over the years in pursuing the government's vision for Viksit Bharat. The approach, characterised by incremental yet impactful steps, aims to create a compounding effect over time.
India and Belgium on Monday explored potential defence engagements in the Indo-Pacific, particularly in the maritime domain, and discussed ways to strengthen defence industrial cooperation.
Officials from India and the United Kingdom (UK) are working overtime to address the contentious issues related to the proposed free trade agreement (FTA) between the two nations, in a final push to conclude the deal by the year-end. Commerce secretary Sunil Barthwal was headed to London on Thursday after completing his four-day visit to Brazil. Other key officials from India's negotiating team will be joining Barthwal in the UK capital, hoping to make headway in the FTA negotiations, which started in January last year, a person aware of the matter told Business Standard.
The government may be waiting for the outcome of an arbitration initiated against its levy of Rs 10,247 crore retrospective tax on UK's Cairn Energy Plc before deciding on appealing against losing a tax case against Vodafone Group, sources said. An international arbitral tribunal is expected to give a decree within next few days on Cairn Energy Plc's challenge to the Indian government seeking Rs 10,247 crore in retrospective taxes. If the arbitration award in the Cairn cases goes against India, the government has to pay the British firm over Rs 7,600 crore to reverse the dividend and tax refund it had ceased and shares it sold to recover part of the tax demand.
The government is confident of meeting the fiscal deficit target of 5.9 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) and the nominal GDP target of 10.5 per cent despite pressure in the initial months of FY24, Economic Affairs secretary Ajay Seth told Business Standard. Normally the initial months of any financial year see proportionally a higher fiscal deficit because the expenditure is evenly paced while revenue picks up in the later months, he said. "This year the proportional fiscal deficit so far is much closer to the target than in most other years.
"We want to trade even more," US President Barack Obama said on Sunday as the two-way commerce between America and India touched a record $100 billion.
India and Japan on Monday held talks to revise their tax treaty in a move to facilitate bilateral business investment, officials said in Tokyo.
British oil firm Cairn Energy Plc on Tuesday said it has identified Indian sovereign assets overseas, which it can seize in the event of New Delhi failing to return over USD 1.7 billion that an international arbitration tribunal has ordered after rescinding a retrospective tax demand.
British telecom giant Vodafone Group plc on Friday won an arbitration against the Indian government over a demand for Rs 22,100 crore in taxes using retrospective legislation.
India is in the process of filing an appeal against an arbitration panel asking it to return $1.2 billion to British oil firm Cairn Energy Plc, sources said on Wednesday. If enforcement proceedings are initiated, India is confident to address them and will strongly defend its interests, the sources said, adding it is open to a constructive settlement of tax disputes within the existing legal framework. India is in the process of filing an appeal in the Cairn's arbitration award case, they said, adding in this case, it was well within India's sovereign powers to redress the situation of Double Non-Taxation and tax abuse. Cairn chief executive Simon Thomson had last month met the then finance secretary Ajay Bhushan Pandey to discuss the arbitration award.
Overall, cumulative direct investment from China stood at just $2.05 billion till June 2018, according to consolidated DIPP figures
The Centre is in talks with Mauritius with regard to the long-pending revision of the bilateral tax treaty.
'Devas will continue to pursue its rights and enforcement actions against India in courts around the world.'
'Granting the country's highest civilian honour to Prime Minister Modi was surprising as it indicated the government was going out of its way to have India as a close partner.'
Senior advocate Harish Salve, appearing for the telecom major, informed Justice Manmohan that the company in its response to the high court's August 22 notice has said it is not acceding to jurisdiction of the Indian courts in the matter.
The company moved the income-tax appellate tribunal and its appeal is pending there.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday announced a Rs 11.11 lakh crore spending on infrastructure and vowed to continue reforms as she resisted resorting to populist measures in Modi government's last Budget before general elections, instead choosing to stay on the path of cutting deficit while bolstering measures for focus groups.
