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.
Prime Minister Modi will embark on his first state visit to the United States at the invitation of President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden in June.
United States Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano arrived in New Delhi on Wednesday on an official visit during which she will jointly launch the US-India Homeland Security dialogue with her Indian counterpart P Chidambaram.
India on Sunday signed three agreements with the US for developing smart cities in Ajmer, Allahabad and Visakhapatnam, with the government saying that the agreements would make significant contribution to building such cities in the country.
The resolution condemns additional Chinese provocations, including China's use of military force to change the status quo along the Line of Actual Control, construction of villages in contested areas, publication of maps with Mandarin-language names for cities and features in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh, and expansion of Beijing's territorial claims in Bhutan.
New Delhi remains a priggish suitor to Washington's overtures, but it has begun appreciating potential tech benefits to ties with the US.
'The prime minister is talking to his Chachaji and he is crying in the PM's lap, it was such an emotional scene.'
The US Commission for International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) also recommended to the Congress to raise the issue of religious freedom during US-India bilateral meetings, and hold hearings on it.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the upcoming visit will affirm the deep and close partnership between the United States and India.
Announcing the hotline, the Chinese defence ministry said as agreed upon by the defence departments of China and Japan, the two sides have recently completed the construction of a direct telephone line for the sea and air liaison mechanism and will maintain communication on the arrangement for the launch.
With the Nifty50 just about 3 per cent away from its all-time closing high of 18,812 points, analysts at BofA Securities suggest investors book profit. Their reasons for the advice include risks like the possibility of a cut in corporate earnings growth forecasts, high valuation (one-year forward P/E of 19.5x), interest rates staying elevated for longer-than-expected and credit tightening. Going ahead, they expect the Nifty50 index to drop to 16,000 levels - down nearly 12 per cent from the current level of 18,255 points, which they believe would be a good time to buy.
Rohit has been enduring a second consecutive poor IPL season with the bat
The first state visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the US is likely to be a defining moment for Indo-US relationship and both sides are working on a robust outcome document that may take up matters that would decide the contour of the bilateral ties for decades to come, according to people familiar with the planning of the high-profile trip.
United States Deputy Secretary of Defence Ashton Carter, who arrived in India on a two-day visit on Monday, has masterminded a proposal that could dramatically boost US-India defence relations.
Ajay Banga was on Wednesday appointed the next president of the World Bank, becoming the first-ever Indian-American to head the global financial institution which said it looks forward to working with him at a time when it's tackling the toughest development challenges facing developing countries. "The executive directors of the World Bank today selected Ajay Banga as president of the World Bank for a five-year term beginning June 2, 2023," the bank said in a press statement. In February, President Joe Biden announced that the US would be nominating Banga, 63, to lead the World Bank because he is "well equipped" to lead the global institution at "this critical moment in history."
'While the US-Pakistan relationship has been stabilised, it's still mired in uncertainty.'
The former Los Angeles mayor's nomination was pending before the US Congress since July 2021 when he was nominated for the prestigious diplomatic posting by Biden.
Speaking at a summit organised by the US-India Business Council in Washington DC, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton pushed for stronger economic and diplomatic ties between the United States and India.
'This is a historic juncture when the US is in great need of an alliance with India to strengthen its hands in the fierce struggle with China in the Asian theatre,' points out Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
In perhaps what could be his swansong appearance as the Obama administration's point man for South Asia, Robert Blake has acknowledged that the impasse over the implementation of the US-India civilian nuclear deal poses many challenges to Washington and New Delhi.
The US is taking several measures, such as increasing the number of staffers, to further facilitate the issuance of business visas in India, a senior US government official said on Tuesday. "We have also made significant progress by issuing more H1B and L visas in 2022 than we did even in 2019 before the pandemic. "This is a significant improvement. We are in the process of raising our staff," Arun Venkataraman, US Assistant Secretary of Commerce for global markets, said.
'India will want a lot of help from the US, but it's not going to want US troops.'
'The Modi visit will prove to be the watershed where India and the United States commenced technology trade and transfer.'
India believes in sabka saath, sabka vikas, sabka vishwas, sabka prayaas and walks ahead with it, Modi said.
"President Biden is looking forward to seeing Prime Minister Modi at the G20 this year, as we look ahead to the next year," he said.
Ron Somers, president of the US-India Business Council, has said that the top priority on his organisation's wish list for the Obama Administration is that "we are intent on seeing a bilateral investment treaty executed between our countries."
The opinion piece added that the party combines the most striking principles of three major political entities in the world -- the Likud Party of Israel, the Communist Party of China and the Muslim Brotherhood of Egypt.
On March 8, the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted to advance former Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti's nomination as US ambassador to India.
Badminton and cricket are two of his favourite sports. He was here with us for about an hour, Vimal Kumar said.
Indo-Pacific region. Senior officials from the ministries of External Affairs and Defence, and the US departments of Defence and State met here for the India-US 2+2 Inter-Sessional meeting.
'Every time a new tech comes in, there are a set of people who will predict that this will be the end of Indian IT and every time the Indian IT industry and overall technology providers have proven to be resilient.'
Strobe Talbott, former United States deputy secretary of state who laid the foundation for better US-India ties, on how they can be taken higher.
India needs a helping hand and the country best placed to provide it, in every way, military, political and economic, is the US, says Premvir Das.
As the Indian Institute of Technology- Kanpur (IIT-K) is celebrating its 50th anniversary, a top US official said the success story of this leading Indian institute reflects the Indo-US cooperation in the field of education.
It is time for the US to reposition its foreign policy.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said China believes that state-to-state interactions should be in line with the trend of the time which is peace and development rather than exclusivity.
A frustrated and angry America Inc believes it has been let down by Delhi after all of its lobbying to push through the deal in the US Congress, reports Aziz Haniffa in Washington, DC.
The legislative amendment was passed on Thursday by voice vote as part of an en bloc (all together as a single unit) amendment during floor consideration of the National Defence Authorisation Act (NDAA).
Mattoo had on Tuesday said she was stopped at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi from flying to the US to receive the prestigious award.
