AICC President Mallikarjun Kharge criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi's relationship with US President Donald Trump, alleging that Modi is acting as Trump's 'slave' and jeopardising India's interests on trade, oil and foreign policy.
The proposed trade deal with the 27-nation European Union (EU) is expected to provide zero-duty access to the $95 billion European market for Indian textile and apparel manufacturers. Currently, India's share of the European market is just 6 per cent, or $5.5 billion.
In their talks, Modi and Merz are likely to deliberate on trade and investment ties as New Delhi is looking at deepening economic engagement with Europe against the backdrop of Washington's 50 percent tariff on Indian goods, people familiar with the matter said.
The comments came a day after US President Donald Trump said that Washington is "very close" to the trade pact with India.
Trading pattern in the stock market this week will largely depend on the ongoing Q3 earnings announcement from corporates, global trends, and foreign fund movement, analysts said. Moreover, geopolitical developments and any update on trade negotiations would also be keenly tracked by investors, experts noted.
MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said India's energy decisions are guided by national interest.
This year's Economic Survey and the Union Budget were more closely followed for more reasons than one.
India has fully protected its sensitive sectors like dairy, rice, wheat, pulses, tea, genetically modified (GM) goods, and coffee by not granting any import duty concessions to the European Union (EU) under the bilateral free trade agreement, according to the Commerce Ministry.
Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) remained in a selling mode in January, withdrawing nearly Rs 36,000 crore (about $3.97 billion) as global uncertainties persisted. Meanwhile, a higher securities transaction tax (STT) proposed in the Union Budget may weigh on overseas investor participation in the near future.
The prime minister is now expected to speak on Thursday in the Rajya Sabha, where the debate on the Motion of Thanks on the President's Address has taken place without any disruption.
India has been on an FTA-signing spree of late. Since 2021, it has signed eight trade agreements, three of which -- with the UK, Oman and New Zealand -- were finalised in 2025 alone.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman launched a strong attack on Rahul Gandhi and the Congress party, accusing them of compromising India's interests on the world stage and selling out farmers and the poor during their time in power.
Rahul Gandhi claims the Indo-US trade deal will compromise the data security of 1.5 billion Indians, alleging Prime Minister Modi is surrendering India's data resources to the US. He warns of potential job losses in the IT sector due to AI and the importance of controlling India's data pool.
Modi, who arrived in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday on a two-day visit, referred to the trade deals India agreed with various countries and said India is seen as a "trusted partner for growth".
Tata Steel is strategically positioned for growth, leveraging India's robust steel demand, significant cost transformation programmes, and favourable protectionist policies in the EU and UK. The company is expanding its India capacity and optimising operations in its European units to enhance profitability and reduce debt.
The finance minister said that consolidation of state-owned banks could proceed at any time without waiting for the recommendations of the proposed high-level committee on banking.
This is the second-worst performance by the pack during this period over the last five years since CY20.
The core issues to be settled -- access to Hormuz, Israel's aggression in Lebanon, the question of Iran's nuclear programme, sanctions relief and compensation -- are thorny enough to require weeks of patient negotiation. The most likely outcome of the opening sessions is that both sides take the measure of each other, establish what is and is not negotiable, and return home without having broken anything. That would count as progress.
'It's a changing world and the opening up doesn't mean that concerns with regards to security have gone away.'
India and Canada are negotiating a long-term uranium supply agreement worth $2.8 billion. They are also exploring expanded civil nuclear cooperation after the passage of the SHANTI Bill.
Bharat Electronics, Reliance Industries, Mahindra & Mahindra, Larsen & Toubro, InterGlobe Aviation, ICICI Bank and UltraTech Cement were among the other major gainers. Axis Bank, Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services, Trent and Titan were the laggards.
India and the European Union (EU) on Tuesday announced the conclusion and finalisation of negotiations for the proposed free trade agreement (FTA).
The incident took place right outside Parliament's Makar Dwar, the main entrance which MPs take to enter the new Parliament building, where Gandhi was standing in solidarity with suspended Congress MPs, mostly from Punjab.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen wore stunning Banarasi during her India visit. See how fashion became smart diplomacy.
In the 15 Union Budget presentation days of the Narendra Modi government since it came to power in 2014, the BSE benchmark Sensex has ended in negative territory eight times.
Opposition MPs in the Rajya Sabha criticised the Modi government's economic policies, citing the LPG crisis, lack of energy security, and concerns over the Economic Stabilisation Fund.
'It will increase the contribution to gratuity, which is something the employer has to give.'
Among major engagements in 2026 is the visit of the European Union leadership, chief guests at the Republic Day parade.
Arjun Sengupta, chairman, National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganised Sector, talks to Business Standard about why he wants two separate Bills for the agricultural and non-agricultural workers.
'Given that India underperformed emerging markets by 28 per cent in 2025, the worst performance in over 30 years, the timing of the sharp STT hike could have been better.'
The Delhi High Court has asked the Centre to explore video conferencing options for an Indian citizen detained in the UAE, to facilitate legal assistance. The court is hearing a petition filed by the detainee's sister, actress Celina Jaitly, seeking legal representation for her brother.
Following allegations of foul play, the Maharashtra government has requested a CBI investigation into the plane crash that tragically killed Deputy CM Ajit Pawar, promising a thorough probe into the incident.
India finalised a free trade agreement with the UK, its 16th so far as the country aimed at boosting bilateral trade and investments. The other regions and countries with which India has signed such agreements include the four-nation European bloc EFTA, Japan, Korea and Australia.
Shaheed Diwas 2026: India observes Martyrs' Day on March 23, marking 95 years since Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev were hanged by the British in 1931. PM Modi leads tributes. History, significance, quotes and how the nation is remembering the martyrs today.
India is well-stocked with inventories of crude oil and key petroleum products, including petrol, diesel, and aviation turbine fuel (ATF), to deal with short-term disruptions as the war intensifies in West Asia, Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri said on Tuesday.
The European Union's (EU's) offer to slash tariffs on 97.5 per cent of Indian chemical exports to zero is set to give India's pharmaceutical and medical device firms preferential access to the European markets.
India is a global leader in software development services, IT enabled services, knowledge process outsourcing services and contract R&D services relating to software development, Sitharaman said noting these business segments are quite inter-connected with each other.
Shares of brokerage-related companies nosedived 18 per cent on Sunday after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman proposed raising securities transaction tax on commodity futures to 0.05 per cent from 0.02 per cent in the Union Budget 2026-27.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a strong attack on the Congress party, accusing them of being unable to accept their repeated electoral defeats and highlighting the achievements of his government.
The India-EU free trade deal could help Indian-made cars enter Europe at lower costs and challenge Chinese dominance.
