Australia on Wednesday unveiled an ambitious roadmap to deepen and diversify its trade and investment ties with India. The roadmap identified four "superhighways of growth" -- clean energy, education and skills, agribusiness, and tourism. Broadly, it sets out a pathway to focus ongoing efforts, including to boost two-way investment, and work with Indian-Australian communities and businesses.
Expressing concern over the Russia-Ukraine conflict, India and Australia have underlined the need for an immediate cessation of hostilities and stressed that the contemporary global order has been built on UN Charter, international law and respect for States' sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Beijing's latest weapon, 15 times more powerful than TNT, signals a new frontier in high-impact, non-nuclear military technology.
The UK government made its first major commitment to support UN Security Council reforms and India's permanent membership within it as part of a refreshed defence and foreign policy review tabled in Parliament on Monday.
"Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be participating, along with Prime Minister of Australia Scott Morrison and Prime Minister of Japan Yoshihide Suga and President of USA Joseph R. Biden, in the first Leaders' Summit of the Quadrilateral Framework, being held virtually on March 12," the MEA said in a statement.
The Chinese coercion and aggression spans the globe, but it is most acute in the Indo-Pacific, it said.
He said that "the state of the border will determine the state of the relationship, that's natural".
Ahead of the visit, officials from key government departments held intense discussions to identify key trade-related proposals.
During the virtual meet, Biden and Modi will discuss cooperation on a range of issues, including ending the COVID-19 pandemic, countering the climate crisis, strengthening the global economy, and upholding a free, open, rules-based international order to bolster security, democracy, and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit the US for a two-day working visit starting Wednesday. He will meet with President Donald Trump and engage in bilateral discussions on trade, investment, technology, defense cooperation, counterterrorism, Indo-Pacific security, and people-to-people relations. The visit is expected to further strengthen the India-US partnership.
Modi attended the 20th ASEAN-India Summit in Jakarta. Secretary-General of ASEAN Dr Kao Kim Hourn also attended the summit.
'As the global economy undergoes significant transformations in 2025, India's ability to navigate the complexities of trade wars, financial realignments, and emerging blocs will be pivotal,' explain Harsh V Pant and Soumya Bhowmik.
According to the Pentagon report, the PLA is creating options for dissuading, deterring, and defeating external intervention in the Indo-Pacific region.
'Trump has no more elections to fight and his soaring ambition, which is no secret, will be to carve out a presidential legacy that outshines by far all his mediocre predecessors.' 'Trump's turnaround on the H-1B visa debate shows that he can take tough decisions and there are no holy cows in his domain,' asserts Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
China criticised the forthcoming meeting of the Foreign Ministers of India, Australia, Japan and the United States in Tokyo, saying it is opposed to the formation of "exclusive clique" harming third party's interests.
The United States will continue to support India with equipment and other things it needs along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China, a top American admiral has told lawmakers, asserting that Washington and New Delhi share a 'tremendous partnership'.
Ever since the Quad started taking shape in 2007, China has been saying that the four-member grouping will be bound to fail. But much to the chagrin of Beijing, it picked up pace in the recent years emerging as a premier strategic group especially challenging China's assertiveness in the disputed South China Sea.
In the midst of rising global concern over China's military expansionism, India and three other member nations of the Quad on Thursday vowed to uphold a rules-based international order underpinned by respect for territorial integrity and sovereignty, freedom of navigation and peaceful resolution of disputes.
'Our record and our actions and stances is fairly clear and by criticising it repeatedly, it doesn't make us less credible'
The delegation visiting India during September 5-8 will be led by assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asian affairs Donald Lu.
"This trip will advance the Biden-Harris administration's rock-solid commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific," White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said in Washington, DC on Wednesday.
India-France synergy is poised to open vistas of collaboration between the two countries, notes Rup Narayan Das.
US Vice President J D Vance and National Security Adviser Michael Waltz are scheduled to visit India on April 21, reflecting Washington's focus on strengthening its relationship with India amidst global concerns over President Donald Trump's tariff policy. Vance's visit is likely to be more of a private trip, while Waltz's visit will be a business trip with discussions on security in the Indo-Pacific region, high technology, critical minerals, and export controls. Both are expected to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi before his trip to Saudi Arabia. The visits come in the wake of Trump's recent pause on tariffs on all countries except China, following widespread economic concerns.
Pompeo would leave for New Delhi on June 24.
The compulsion behind India and Japan to deepen security cooperation is in response to China's growing political and economic clout and its assertive behaviour in disputed areas. This has been the key driver for bringing both India and Japan closer in the domain of security cooperation, explains Dr Rajaram Panda.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has concluded his visit to France, which included co-chairing an AI summit and bilateral talks with French President Emmanuel Macron. He is now headed to the US for a bilateral meeting with President Trump. Modi's visit to France included discussions on trade, defense, energy, and cultural linkages. He also inaugurated India's new consulate in Marseille. During his visit to the US, Modi will also interact with business leaders and members of the Indian community.
"India is a global strategic partner of ours. We have a wide, broad, deep relationship with India. There will be a lot on the agenda in the bilateral relationship and in the multilateral engagements he takes part in on the margins of the G20," Ned Price, State Department Spokesperson, told reporters at his daily news conference.
In the opinion piece after the summit, the leaders said the cooperation, known as "the Quad," was born in crisis. It became a diplomatic dialogue in 2007 and was reborn in 2017.
The Budget has given signals that India is sensitive to the US needs and willing to walk the extra mile, but if need be, we should respond in equal measure as a sovereign nation, notes Ajay Srivastava.
This was their first conversation after Biden assumed office last month.
The USNS Salvor was welcomed with a ceremony at the shipyard on Monday, and it is the first ship to arrive after the signing of the MSRA.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has reiterated the UK's commitment to a free trade agreement (FTA) with India as part of the country's wider focus on enhancing ties with the strategic Indo-Pacific region and standing up to competitors with "robust pragmatism". Delivering his first major foreign policy speech since taking charge at 10 Downing Street last month at the Lord Mayor of London's Banquet on Monday evening, the British Indian leader reflected upon his heritage and committed to promoting British values of "freedom and openness" around the world. He also pledged to "do things differently" far removed from the so-called "golden era" with China, which he said poses a "systemic challenge" to British values and interests.
With Donald Trump all set to become US president, Indian exporters may face high customs duties for goods like automobiles, textiles and pharmaceuticals if the new US administration decides to pursue the 'America First' agenda, opined trade experts. Experts also said that Trump could also tighten H-1B visa rules, impacting costs and growth for Indian IT firms. Over 80 per cent of India's IT export earnings come from the US, making it vulnerable to changes in visa policies.
"We value our partnership with India, and we've been increasing it and doing a lot more, over time. They have the same security challenge, primary security challenger that we do, and it's real on their northern border," Admiral John Christopher Aquilino, commander of United States Indo-Pacific Command, told members of the House Armed Services Committee during a hearing on Indo-Pacific National Security Challenges.
The Indian diaspora in London has been rallying around to coordinate fundraisers to support the UK-based family members of the Ahmedabad plane crash victims, including urgent assistance for two orphaned children.
The new framework of the ministerial dialogue was initiated in order to provide a forward-looking vision for the strategic partnership between the two countries.
"My interview was on March 21, 1977. That was the day the Emergency was revoked. Revoked! So, I go in for an interview at Shahjahan Road... First person that morning," recalls Jaishankar, now 70.
The top diplomats of Quad nations on Friday denounced as "inadmissible" any use or threat of use of nuclear weapons in the Ukraine war and strongly opposed any "unilateral actions" that seek to change the status quo in the South and East China Seas, a region that has witnessed increasing Chinese military offensive.
India and Australia on Saturday decided to expand military engagements across services and facilitate greater sharing of critical information in line with their resolve to significantly expand strategic ties.
'Pick up momentum and find opportunities from an intelligence-sharing standpoint.'
