Commerce secretary Sunil Barthwal is set to attend a two-day meeting from October 23 at the World Trade Organization (WTO) headquarters in Geneva, that would focus on finding solutions and giving the 'necessary political push' for at least some crucial global trade issues. Next week's meeting comes ahead of the WTO's 13th ministerial conference (MC13), scheduled in Abu Dhabi in February 2024. It will see participation of senior government officials from all WTO member nations.
Ban on US rice by the European Union and Cuba is turning out to be detrimental for the American rice sector as the commodity may found it tough to get buyers now.
With an ambitious target to more than double their bilateral trade to $200 billion in the next four years, India and EU hoped on Friday they can resolve differences and reach a free trade agreement within a year.
Underlining the contribution of non-resident Indians, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday said remittances sent to the country by overseas Indians were about $100 billion for the year 2022, an increase of 12 per cent in one year. Speaking at a session during the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) convention in Madhya Pradesh's Indore city, she described NRIs as the "real ambassadors of India" and appealed to them to use made in India products and services as far as possible so that the country's individual brand can be promoted across the globe. Sitharaman also said that after the "China plus one" policy, the world is now talking about the "European Union (EU) plus one" policy.
A visiting European Union team Friday promised the Sikh community that it would try to impress upon France the "cultural" sentiments attached with the turban and ask them to lift the ban on wearing it in schools.
The United States and European Union have slapped tougher and "wide-ranging" sanctions on Russia, targeting its energy, finance and defence sectors for its continued support of separatists in Ukraine.
Most of India's oil supplies are expected to stay safe because of the country's good relations with both Russia and Iran. That would take care of over a third of India's supplies.
As casualty figures rose from the devastating quake the European Commission, the EU's executive arm, said up to three million euros could be approved within a day if requested by agencies working on the ground.
Our government shows a benign mask to the world behind which its fangs are bared against its own citizens, observes Aakar Patel.
While admitting India's persistent stand on the issue might delay the agreement, a top commerce ministry official said the talks were on track. "We will maintain a hardline stand," said the official. It is to be noted, the sixth round of EU-India trade negotiation in Delhi in March ended without any substantial progress because of the tariff-related issues. The EU is India's largest trading partner and the total bilateral trade stood at over $70 billion in 2008-09.
US, EU have flexibility to shield 65 sensitive textile products from immediate formula cuts.
The 'temporary ban' which came into force on Thursday will remain effective until December 2015 after authorities in Brussels found consignments infested with pests they fear could damage European salad crops.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will review the proposed bilateral trade and investment agreement between India and the EU at the meeting of the Trade and Economic Relations Committee (TERC) on May 29.
The World Trade Organisation agreed on Monday to an Indian demand for a probe into special trade deals granted by the European Union to countries fighting drug trafficking.
With exports on a downturn due to the economic crisis battering major markets in the US and EU, China has said it will turn to developing countries to sustain its foreign trade-dependent economic growth.
Polling stations across the United Kingdom opened on Thursday morning to decide the historic referendum on whether the country should remain a member of the European Union or leave the politico-economic union of 28 member states.
India's import of cheap Russian oil scaled another record in May and is now more than the combined oil bought from Saudi Arabia, Iraq, UAE and the US, industry data showed. India took 1.96 million barrels a day from Russia in May, 15 per cent more than the previous high in April, according to data from energy cargo tracker Vortexa. Russia now makes up for nearly 42 per cent of all crude oil India imported in May.
Days ahead of India-EU annual summit, Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma on Wednesday said a few ends are yet to be stitched for concluding the proposed Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the two sides.
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.
'A change we have seen after the Russia-Ukraine war is the energy crisis in Europe.' 'Earlier, in Europe, people used to change their clothes after 5 washes, now they are using it till 15-20 washes.' 'They used to change their entire wardrobe after 2 months or so, but because of the economic conditions, it has changed.' 'It has affected exports as 40% of our exports is to Europe, 30% to the US and 10% to the UK.' 'The war has to end for better days to come.'
Oil producers cartel OPEC's share in India's oil imports fell to an all-time low of 46 per cent in April as purchases of cheaper Russian oil peaked, industry data showed. Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) nations, mainly in the Middle East and Africa, had a 72 per cent share of all crude oil India imported in April 2022. This share slid to 46 per cent in April 2023, according to energy cargo tracker Vortexa.
Khan said that India, which is a part of Quad, has imported oil from Russia despite American sanctions.
The decision was taken along with six partner countries backing the so-called International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor project.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Joe Biden are set to hold bilateral talks on Friday evening with a focus on further solidifying the India-US comprehensive global and strategic partnership.
'The two sides agree to continue firmly supporting each other in safeguarding their respective core interests,' a joint statement issued at the end of Muizzu's talks with Chinese leaders said.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov briefly admitted that Russia had suffered a 'significant' loss of its troops in Ukraine, calling the casualties 'a huge tragedy' for the country in an interview with Sky News.
India is trying to fish in Pakistan's troubled waters as far as marine products are concerned.
India will need to travel back in time and seek inspiration from football greats Tulsidas Balaram and Chuni Goswami to deftly dribble around and sidestep the West-imposed price cap on exports of Russian seaborne crude oil. India depends on imported oil to meet 86 per cent of its needs, of which nearly a quarter now comes from Russia. The copious flows are roughly 10 per cent cheaper than competing suppliers helping India save billions of dollars in fuel costs.
Macron's office said the President will travel to Delhi to participate in the G20 Summit on September 9 and 10 following which he will leave for Bangladesh for a bilateral visit.
With Beijing remaining intransigent on the withdrawal of additional troops deployed by the People's Liberation Army (PLA) since the deadly border clash in 2020 in eastern Ladakh, India's bilateral ties with China remained frozen in 2023 with no forward movement on the horizon despite several rounds of diplomatic and military talks.
India's imports of crude oil from Russia touched a new high of 1.64 million barrels per day in March and is now double of the purchases from Iraq - the nation's traditional top oil supplier. But the purchases appear to have plateaued as growth has slowed. Russia continued to be the single largest supplier of crude oil, which is converted into petrol and diesel at refineries, for a sixth straight month by supplying more than one-third of all oil India imported, according to energy cargo tracker Vortexa.
In a bid to break the deadlock on multilateral trade issues after the collapse of WTO's Cancun Ministerial, G-20 developing countries on agriculture will hold a meeting with EU Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy on December 12.
There is no official word either from China or from India on who will represent Beijing at the upcoming G20 summit.
Even as the Group of Seven (G7) price cap on Russian crude oil enters into force as of December 5, India has been assured it will continue to receive the existing deep discounts on Russian oil, for the time being, informed officials. "We have been assured by our Russian partners of uninterrupted crude supplies at the existing rates for the time being. "There were a lot of reports of changes in (India's) buying patterns after the global price cap took hold.
'Russia was hit with sanctions yesterday, but these are not enough to get these foreign troops off our soil. Only through solidarity and determination can this be achieved'
