An Indian commerce ministry team will soon visit Washington for another round of talks on the proposed trade agreement with the US to iron out differences in sectors, like agriculture and automobiles, a government official said on Thursday.
"We are waiting for our good friend Modi and best regards to him," the Russian media quoted Putin as saying in the meeting with Doval.
Consensus remained elusive on a common BRICS currency as business leaders from the five-bloc nations debated the pivotal issue at a business forum on the periphery of a summit of the five-member bloc being hosted here by South Africa. In their two addresses at the Summit so far, the leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa have made no or scant references to the issue either. "The BRICS Business Forum discussed the international payments system in detail. "Participants also debated the question of whether a BRICS currency is possible or desirable, with strong views expressed both for and against and little consensus reached," Sim Tshabalala, chief executive of Standard Bank Group, told several hundred captains of industry from the partner countries and over 40 other nations across the globe at the Summit.
Modi held a "productive meeting" with his Ethiopian counterpart Abiy Ahmed Ali on a day when BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) leaders officially endorsed Ethiopia's entry into the bloc.
A senior Russian diplomat has called the US pressure on India for its procurement of Russian crude oil "unjustified," expressing confidence in continued energy cooperation between India and Russia despite external pressures.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping are set to meet in Tianjin on Sunday, their first in about 10 months, for wide-ranging talks aimed at improving relations.
President Putin and Prime Minister Modi greeted each other with a warm hug, after which they walked towards the stage for a family photo of the SCO members.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping vowed to work towards a "fair, reasonable, and mutually acceptable" resolution of the festering boundary issue and pledged to work towards stabilising global trade.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said it is important for India and China to work together to bring stability to the world economic order as he asserted that New Delhi is ready to advance bilateral ties from a strategic and long-term perspective based on mutual respect, mutual interest and mutual sensitivity.
'Prime minister is expected to hold some bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the SCO summit.'
Showing respect to the Indian flag, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday immediately picked up the tricolour placed on stage at a BRICS meeting here to mark the standing place of every leader so as not to step on it.
Describing the visit as "productive" in a post on X, the PM said he emphasised India's position on key global issues during his engagements.
'America holds about 16% of IMF voting rights, giving it crucial influence over Pakistan's desperately needed bailout loans.'
There has never been a moment in India's history when it has been so adrift in the world, so confused about what it stands for and against and so humiliated, asserts Aakar Patel.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping held bilateral talks focusing on economic ties and global stability amid trade tensions and the aftermath of the Ladakh border row.
'We need to be very vigilant as we are passing through some fraught times.'
'Modi's a great leader... But I don't understand why he's getting into bed with Putin and Xi Jinping...'
Trump's new rules for how countries should treat him have led to the current breakdown in India-US relations, explains Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
The way to deal with a bully is to resist bullying, because submission in the first instance only invites even more overbearing demands in future. What may seem like a small price to pay now will lead to a much higher price later, warns former foreign secretary Shyam Saran.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov alleged that NATO is blatantly trying to lure India into anti-China intrigues.
China firmly opposes the Trump administration's 50 percent tariffs on India as it is "unfair and unreasonable" and New Delhi and Beijing should scale up economic ties to jointly counter the challenge, Chinese ambassador Xu Feihong said on Monday.
NSA Ajit Doval has indicated that dates for Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit to India are being worked out during his meetings in Moscow. Discussions also covered bilateral energy and defence cooperation, amidst ongoing concerns over India's procurement of Russian crude oil.
'Just as we cannot surrender the interests of our farmers and dairy industry, Trump is also looking for markets for the produce of the farmers in the Midwest, which are his support base.'
Describing the India-United States relationship as 'very complicated', US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Wednesday hoped that 'at the end of the day, we will come together.'
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said that it is imperative for the two sides to view each other as partners and opportunities rather than rivals or threats, and invest their valuable resources in development and revitalisation.
'New Delhi is not naive about its foreign policy choices.'
'...it should not delude itself into thinking that India's security or its great-power ambitions will be advanced by those partnerships.'
'Instead, what India should focus on is on riding out the next three-and-a-half years of Trump's presidency with minimal damage to itself.'
The BRICS nations on Friday underlined the need for using local currencies in international trade and financial transactions besides committing themselves to supporting rule-based open and transparent global trade. A joint statement issued at the end of the meeting of the BRICS Ministers of Foreign Affairs and International Relations, also pressed for a robust Global Financial Safety Net with a quota-based and adequately resourced International Monetary Fund (IMF) at its centre. It further said the process of IMF governance reform under the 16th General Review of Quotas, including a new quota formula as a guide, should be completed by December 15, 2023.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping are expected to hold bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the SCO summit in Tianjin, as both nations look to strengthen ties amid global trade tensions.
'Geopolitically and diplomatically it's a very difficult situation for India.'
US President Donald Trump announced a deal with Pakistan to develop its oil reserves, suggesting Pakistan might sell oil to India in the future.
New Delhi, while opting not to retaliate yet to the American tariffs, has in recent weeks sought to reinforce its friendship with Moscow, and recalibrate its ties with Beijing rather than surrender to Washington's diktats.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to visit Japan and China starting around August 29. The visit to China would be his first after the Ladakh border standoff.
The collective West has always opposed strong leaders and economic development in India, asserts Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
India and Russia always stood "shoulder-to-shoulder" even in the most difficult situations, Prime Minister Narendra Modi told Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday, against the backdrop of possibly the worst phase in New Delhi's ties with the US in over two decades.
The Global Times, a prominent state-run Chinese media outlet, published an article titled "China and India are cooperation partners, not rivals: Xi," highlighting President Xi Jinping's remarks about the bilateral meeting, saying, "as long as the two countries stick to this overarching direction, China-India relations can sustain steady and long-term growth."
'The biggest point of contention is market access for US agricultural and dairy products.'
Russian President Vladimir Putin will not personally attend the G20 summit to be held in New Delhi on September 9-10, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov announced in Moscow on Friday.
'India is cosying up to Xi Jinping. They don't need the Russian oil. It's a refining profiteering scheme.'
With its political colour dominated by less than democratic trends, BRICS currently leaves some of us wondering -- where in this grouping is there an assurance that human freedom will be respected unconditionally? It would be nice to see the new members of BRICS drawn from the ranks of countries wedded to preserving and guarding human freedom, observes Shyam G Menon.
