Russian President Vladimir Putin announced his upcoming visit to India in December and expressed his intention to address the trade imbalance between the two countries, particularly concerning India's crude oil imports from Russia. He also lauded India's independent stance on international issues and highlighted the strong relationship between the two nations.
The relations between New Delhi and Washington are on a downturn after Trump doubled tariffs on Indian goods to a whopping 50 per cent, including a 25 per cent additional duties for India's purchase of Russian crude oil.
India received FDI equity flows from China worth $2.67 million in FY25, which was 0.01 per cent of the total FDI equity receipts by India in FY25.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has backed the imposition of tariffs on countries maintaining economic ties with Russia, saying it is the 'right idea' in the face of continued aggression by Moscow.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping held talks focusing on rebuilding bilateral relations, emphasizing border peace and addressing cross-border terrorism.
Trump also said he is "very disappointed" that India would be buying "so much oil" from Russia.
The Bloomberg report suggests that this backchannel communication from President Xi has laid the groundwork for a broader thaw in relations. This overture has since translated into a series of tangible diplomatic actions leading up to the upcoming Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit.
After two decades, the SCO appears to be at a cross-roads with the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, asserts Srikanth Kondapalli, the leading China expert.
Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Tuesday expressed hope that India will conclude the proposed bilateral trade agreement (BTA) with the US by the fall or November this year. He said that "a little bit" of geopolitical issues overtook the trade matters in the negotiations for the pact between the two countries.
'When the Galwan incident took place, that was a big break in the trust factor between India and China.'
The Congress party has criticized the Modi government's approach to China following Prime Minister Narendra Modi's meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, questioning whether the government is legitimizing Chinese aggression.
Ahead of trade talks between Indian and United States officials in Delhi, White House trade advisor Peter Navarro said India, which has the 'highest tariffs' of any major country, is 'coming to the table'.
'If 138 soldiers have been given a gallantry award as 'shaheed' (by Pakistan) for Operation Sindoor, how many would have been the actual casualties. This decides who won.
India-US relations, like Rome, were not built in a day, nor can they be demolished in a day.
All said and done, when the new global order emerges, India can only remain with the democracies, asserts Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
'We should watch -- in the near term -- for signs that the two have totally fallen out at a personal, political level.' 'Trump and Modi know how to be dealmakers, but they also know how to hold a grudge.'
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday 'deeply' appreciated United States President Donald Trump's 'positive assessment' of the India-US partnership after the American leader hailed the 'special' relationship between the two nations -- remarks seen as an attempt to check the downturn in the ties.
'America holds about 16% of IMF voting rights, giving it crucial influence over Pakistan's desperately needed bailout loans.'
Industry leaders urge India to pursue diplomatic talks with the US, strengthen manufacturing, and consider China ties to gain leverage against tariff pressures.
Hindi Diwas was observed across India with leaders emphasizing Hindi's role as a unifying factor and the need to enrich all Indian languages. Events were held in India and abroad to promote the language.
'Xi is an individual led by a harder calculus and would scoff at melting over gestures.' 'That we did not know this was our failure,' asserts Aakar Patel.
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.
It will be Putin's first participation in a multilateral summit after a mercenary group launched a short-lived armed rebellion last week that rocked Moscow.
At the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, President Xi Jinping and PM Shehbaz Sharif will attend via video conference, the 23rd meeting of the Council of Heads meeting of the SCO on July 4.
National Security Advisor Ajit Doval on Wednesday said that the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation members should respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity and seek no unilateral military superiority in adjacent areas.
A US lawmaker and former officials warn that President Trump's policies are damaging the strategic partnership between the United States and India, potentially driving India closer to China and Russia.
'One Chinese interlocutor said India should realise that "China can do without India, but India could not do without China", pointing to its inability to do without Chinese intermediates and components,' former foreign secretary Shyam Saran discovers on a visit to China.
Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev chaired the 22nd SCO summit in Samarkand which was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Asked about the expectations from the US, Azar said Washington and Israel are "completely in sync". He said he felt that the US would "support" Israel's action.
Except for Pakistan, the defence ministers of all other member countries attended the meeting in person. It is learnt that the Pakistani representative joined the deliberations virtually.
'Given the sharp increase in oil prices, a mounting problem for the 2nd and 4th largest importers like China and India -- the Qingdao meeting is likely to push for the large energy producers (Russia and the Central Asian Republics) and energy consumers (China and India) to arrive at some understanding for mutually beneficial outcomes,' notes Srikanth Kondapalli.
'If Washington has to balance Chinese power, she will have to turn to the third biggest power in the world which is India.' 'The United States and India will have to work together in order to keep Chinese ambitions in check.'
The summit will be attended by leaders of SCO member states, observer states, Secretary General of the SCO, Executive Director of the SCO Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS), President of Turkmenistan and other invited guests, a Ministry of External Affairs statement said.
'New Delhi is not naive about its foreign policy choices.'
Russian President Vladimir Putin told a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) on Friday that the group should consider staging its own major sporting competition.
China has expressed its support for Russia's initiative to revive the Russia-India-China (RIC) troika, emphasizing its importance for regional and global security and stability.
Pakistan Defence Minister Khawaja Asif will attend the SCO defence ministers' meeting in New Delhi on Friday through virtual mode, according to an official readout.
Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and his counterparts from Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan are also attending the meeting to be chaired by Rajnath Singh.
Instead, Chinese Premier and Xi's confidant Li Qiang will take part in the summit to be held on July 6-7 in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi was expected to take part.
The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) will hold its first in-person summit in Samarkand in Uzbekistan on Thursday after two years, shaking off Covid fears and providing a rare opportunity for all its eight heads of state to meet on the sidelines of the event to have face-to-face talks on pressing global and regional issues of common concern.
Modi's emphasises on transit for trade comes amid Pakistan's reluctance to provide such a facility for two-way trade between India and Pakistan.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances