The delegations from the US and Iran head to Islamabad on Friday, carrying a ceasefire that is already fraying, a Strait that is technically open and practically closed, and a negotiating agenda that would challenge even parties actually negotiating in good faith, which these groups are not. Prem Panicker continues his must read blog on the Iran War.
Alliances fight wars effectively only when they share an endgame. If Israel acted without US knowledge, then the military alliance is operating without real coordination at the level of strategic targeting. Neither picture is reassuring in a war that is no longer regional in its consequences. Prem Panicker continues his must read daily blog on the Gulf War.
The 'rescue' operation occurred within kilometres of Iran's underground tunnel complex at Isfahan, assessed by the IAEA and US intelligence as holding a substantial portion of the country's 60 per cent enriched uranium stockpile. Retired senior US military officers have highlighted that the mission's footprint -- hundreds of special operators, multiple heavy-lift aircraft deep inside Iran -- appears outsized for recovering a single airman. Prem Panicker continues his must read blog on the Iran War.
The Indian economy is likely to grow at 7.4 per cent in 2025-26, up from 6.5 per cent in the previous fiscal, mainly on account of better performance of manufacturing and services sectors, as per the government data released on Wednesday.
In a statement after a meeting between Trump and Pakistan Army chief Asim Munir at the White House on Wednesday, the Inter-Services Public Relations -- the media wing of the Pakistan Army -- said they also discussed joint counterterrorism efforts.
'The real story of 2025 is that India officially stopped being a 'market of the future' and started acting as the world's primary economic engine.'
Apex exporters body FIEO on Tuesday expressed serious concerns over high US tariffs on Indian goods and said that textiles and apparel manufacturers in Tirupur, Noida, and Surat have halted production amid worsening cost competitiveness due to these steep duties. The US duties on Indian goods will increase to 50 per cent from August 27.
China on Wednesday hit back at United States President Donald Trump's tariffs on Chinese exports with 84 per cent levies on its imports from America, intensifying the trade war between the top two economies of the world.
The Indian economy is projected to grow at 6.2 per cent in 2025-26, slower than earlier estimated rate of 6.5 per cent, due to escalated trade tensions and global uncertainty, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Tuesday. "For India, the growth outlook is relatively more stable at 6.2 per cent in 2025, supported by private consumption, particularly in rural areas," IMF said in its World Economic Outlook (WEO).
The textile and apparel sector is India's second-largest employment provider, after agriculture, and it is now caught in a wave of uncertainty following the Donald Trump administration's tariff policy.
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.
India would neither succumb to the Americans on issues of national security, such as its defence ties with Russia, nor cede ground on its domestic interests in the agriculture and dairy sectors.
'Saudi-Pak defence pact is to anchor the defence and security of Saudi Arabia and not Pakistan, per se, with Islamabad being the junior partner.'
The BRICS nations condemned the Pahalgam terror attack, advocated for a zero-tolerance approach to terrorism, and criticized rising tariffs during their summit in Rio de Janeiro. They also addressed global challenges and called for reforms in international institutions.
The era where nations thrived through rigid alignments is giving way to an age where the connective State defines power. For India, that era has arrived, points out Dr Nishakant Ojha.
The collective West has always opposed strong leaders and economic development in India, asserts Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
Two 'very smart' leaders of India and Pakistan decided to end last month's conflict that could have turned into a nuclear war, United States President Donald Trump said after holding a rare luncheon meeting with Pakistan army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir at the White House.
India and the US on Tuesday decided to set up a task force for jointly developing Allahabad, Ajmer and Vishakhapatnam as Smart Cities.
Trump's sweeping tariffs and penalties on China-built ships have turned global shipping into the front line of economic war, observes Shyam G Menon.
Trump on February 1 had announced tariffs on major US trading partners Canada, Mexico and China. He imposed a 25 per cent tariff on Canadian and Mexican imports and a 10 per cent on goods from China.
The 'mediation' by the United States from behind the scene on the diplomatic track appears to be once again working, which calls on both Delhi and Islamabad to show restraint and pull back from a military confrontation, notes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
The following is the full text of US President Donald Trump's first address to a joint session of the Congress on February 28, as prepared for delivery and released by the White House press office.
As the United States focuses on the Indo-Pacific, in particular the Quad, the Biden administration needs to address India's ties with Russia and its 'downward trend of democratic values and institutions', said a report by the Democratic Party of the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee.
World leaders, including the UN Secretary-General and US President Donald Trump, have urged India and Pakistan to exercise restraint and seek peaceful solutions to the ongoing tensions. The calls for calm come after India conducted airstrikes in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in response to a recent terrorist attack. Leaders from the US, Russia, UK, China, UAE, Qatar, and Japan have expressed concern over the escalating situation and emphasized the need for dialogue and de-escalation.
'Entering India is exciting, but it's also challenging. You have to be prepared for long-term investment.'
At the end of the day, for many worldwide, the ongoing mutual attacks between Israel and Iran would seem a contest devoid of any moral high ground and only a bout between two ordinary adversaries, one that nevertheless risks spinning out of control into a larger conflagration, notes Shyam G Menon.
Presenting the full text of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's address to the nation on May 12, 2025, in which he dictated India's new doctrines on countering terrorism.
India will welcome two trade missions in 2015 focused on meeting its infrastructure needs with US technology and services.
Unlike Israeli company NSO, whose sale of Pegasus cyber tech grabbed worldwide attention, and other manufacturers of offensive-cyber products, Cellebrite operates in a grey area between security exports and civilian ones.
India needs a National Trade Policy Council, chaired by a minister who reports directly to the PM, says Jayanta Roy, former economic advisor to the Union commerce ministry.
Dar also said Pakistan views Russia as an important player in the West, South and Central Asia, and strengthening mutually beneficial cooperation with Russia remains an important priority for Pakistan's foreign policy.
The agreement formalises the US Trade and Development Agency's programme with Indian public sector undertakings and cover activities like project preparation, trade capacity building, investment analysis and sectoral development.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Monday held wide ranging discussions with Iranian counterpart Hossein Amirabdollahian in Tehran and their discussion focused on the long term framework for India's involvement with the strategically vital Chabahar port and the North-South connectivity project.
During the meeting, the US said it will not add new tariffs on Chinese exports, China's state -run China Daily reported.
Maharashtra received the lion's share of the foreign direct investment inflows into India during April-August this fiscal, according to industry ministry's latest data.
It was a protest which held a mirror to the government of a state taking pride in its commitment to democracy, gender equality and social indices.One person, who in his employed days had known governments and political parties at close quarters, told me that public perception of how the Kerala government handled the ASHA workers' strike had been terrible, reports Shyam G Menon.
'We never talk about cut of trade ties with any countries. Rumor about this news has been a propaganda. It is not true'
Delhi's appeasement strategy may now translate as more mega arms deals with the US, generating substantial business and job creation in the American economy. Make no mistake, Americans will use it to pressure India, predicts Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
"The two sides note that the relationship between Russia and China has progressed to a more advanced interstate cooperation compared to the military-political unions of the Cold War era as it is not bloc or confrontational in nature, nor does it target any third countries," Russia's new agency Tass quoted the document as saying.
The customs officials, based on an intelligence input, halted a Malta-flagged merchant ship -- CMA CGM Attila -- at the port en route to Karachi on January 23 and inspected the consignment, which included a Computer Numerical Control (CNC) machine, originally manufactured by an Italian company.
