India's Consul General in Shanghai, Pratik Mathur, extended greetings to Song Hou, Director General of China's Commercial Aircraft Corporation (COMAC), ahead of his visit to New Delhi for the BRICS Business Forum 2026. Discussions focused on B2B, technology, and connectivity ties, aligning with India's BRICS Presidency vision. The forum precedes the 18th BRICS Summit.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Friday described BRICS as an important global forum, highlighting the grouping's growing demographic and economic weight and noting that its members account for around half of the world's population and 40 percent of global GDP.
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has issued a warning against 'malicious' and 'misleading' social media posts concerning the health of world leaders, specifically Chinese President Xi Jinping and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, who attended the recent BRICS Summit in New Delhi. The warning comes amidst unverified claims about Xi's health and an official statement from Ramaphosa's office confirming his withdrawal from public engagements due to ill health.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is set to visit India for a three-day trip to attend the 18th BRICS Summit and engage in bilateral discussions with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The summit will focus on strengthening strategic partnerships and addressing international issues, with Putin also scheduled to meet other world leaders.
New Delhi was told it had given something up; in reality it had stopped talking about it, notes Dr Abhishek Puri.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian declared that Iran will not succumb to "bullying" from the US and Israel, vowing to protect national interests amidst escalating West Asian hostilities. During his visit to New Delhi for the BRICS summit, Pezeshkian also discussed strengthening bilateral ties with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and advocated for local currencies in BRICS trade, positioning Iran as a strategic energy and transport partner.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin held extensive discussions to strengthen bilateral trade, defence, and energy cooperation, while also addressing the ongoing Ukraine conflict and exploring avenues for peace and resolution, with Modi reiterating India's call for dialogue and diplomacy.
'The Chinese military cannot advance much in Ladakh, even if they want to.' 'Similarly, in Arunachal Pradesh, they can rename a village or two, intrude here or there, but cannot do much more realistically.'
During the 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a bilateral meeting, outlining a four-point approach for the steady and long-term development of China-India relations. The leaders stressed strategic understanding, win-win cooperation, mutual respect, and inclusive multilateral engagement, reaffirming their commitment to resolving the boundary question and addressing economic concerns. They also discussed global challenges and strengthening people-to-people ties.
US President Donald Trump is expected to sign the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026 later on Friday (local time). A White House official confirmed the development to ANI without revealing further details.
Consensus remained elusive on a common BRICS currency as business leaders from the five-bloc nations debated the pivotal issue at a business forum on the periphery of a summit of the five-member bloc being hosted here by South Africa. In their two addresses at the Summit so far, the leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa have made no or scant references to the issue either. "The BRICS Business Forum discussed the international payments system in detail. "Participants also debated the question of whether a BRICS currency is possible or desirable, with strong views expressed both for and against and little consensus reached," Sim Tshabalala, chief executive of Standard Bank Group, told several hundred captains of industry from the partner countries and over 40 other nations across the globe at the Summit.
Noting that India has 'limitless possibilities and countless opportunities', Modi urged the BRICS business leaders to take advantage of them.
The Brics Development Bank was mooted at a summit in New Delhi in March this year as an alternative to the International Monetary Fund.
Srikanth Kondapalli on what to expect from the seventh BRICS summit meeting to be held in Russia in July.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said India will become the growth engine for the world in the coming years, and the ease of doing business has improved with "mission-mode" reforms being undertaken by his government. Speaking at the BRICS Business Forum Leaders' Dialogue in Johannesburg, Modi also said India soon will become a $5 trillion economy.
'The two sides should support rather than undermine each other, strengthen cooperation rather than guard against each other, and enhance mutual trust rather than be suspicious of each other'
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said it is important for India and China to work together to bring stability to the world economic order as he asserted that New Delhi is ready to advance bilateral ties from a strategic and long-term perspective based on mutual respect, mutual interest and mutual sensitivity.
India's National Security Advisor Ajit Doval is expected to attend a major security meeting in Moscow next week, organized by Russia's Security Council. Doval is invited for the 13th international meeting of high representatives for security issues, taking place from May 27-29. The meeting, chaired by Sergei Shoigu, Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, will see participation from over 150 countries and international organizations. Pakistan's NSA, Lt Gen Asim Malik, is also expected to attend the meeting, leading to speculation of a possible face-to-face meeting between the two NSAs amidst heightened tensions between India and Pakistan following the Pahalgam attack and subsequent retaliatory actions.
'Just as we cannot surrender the interests of our farmers and dairy industry, Trump is also looking for markets for the produce of the farmers in the Midwest, which are his support base.'
Modi is visiting the African country from August 22 to 24 at the invitation of South African President Cyril Ramaphosa. South Africa is hosting the first in-person summit of BRICS comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, since 2019.
"For instance, you generally buy your military gear from Russia. That's a way to kind of get under the skin of America, if you go to buy your armaments from Russia."
India and China have not ruled out a Modi-Xi meeting during the summit.
'Wang Yi said the border issue is important and we should stay committed to peacefully addressing it through consultation and coordination.'
'Happily,' says Ambassador B S Prakash, 'BRICS displayed new-found energy and built something real, a bank. Between needless nihilism and as yet unjustified euphoria, there are many stations for the BRICS train and we can watch its progress with renewed interest.'
'We will likely never know why Xi decided not to travel to New Delhi. One possible explanation could be his desire to avoid a meeting with US President Joe Biden.'
If it continues to do well economically, develops a large manufacturing sector, gains in technological heft, builds a more capable defence industry, improves its human development indicators, becomes more of a trading nation, and has greater internal cohesion. In short, it is a work in progress, suggests T N Ninan.
Russia proceeds "from the postulate, a negotiated solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict has no alternatives," said Putin while speaking at the Commonwealth of Independent States summit in Bishkek, Kyrgystan on Friday.
Modi will first stop in Rwanda for a two-day visit, then visit Uganda from July 24-25 and finally go to South Africa.
India scripted history as the ambitious third Moon mission of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) touched down on the Moon's south pole, propelling the country to an exclusive club of four and making it the first nation to land on the uncharted surface.
A total of over 75 Heads of State and Foreign Ministers will be meeting with Modi, external affairs minister S Jaishankar and minister of state for external affairs V Muraleedharan during the week across various platforms.
With Donald Trump unable to make it, Modi settles for Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro.
Modi, who will be addressing the General Debate for the first time in five years, has a packed bilateral and multilateral agenda beginning September 23 till September 27.
She said there was no bigger global challenge than "state-sponsored" and "state-protected terrorism, asserting those supporting terror networks must be made to pay the cost.
President Pranab's four-day visit to China that saw him meeting the top Chinese leadership and discussing the sticky boundary issue and cooperation in combating terrorism besides the need for a predictable nuclear regime.
Likening India to the "cleanest among the dirty shirts" left with a person towards the end of a business visit, a foreign fund house said the country presents enormous growth potential despite the "kind of mess" it has been in for many years.
'Unless the economy is sound in the country how can only three movies collected so much business in a single day?'
At 89th, India is the lowest-ranked among the BRICS.
India's ranking is worst among the five BRICS countries
On the list of 137 economies, Switzerland is followed by the US and Singapore in second and third places, respectively.
Under the watchful eyes of five wise men, who know the industry well, banks will not find it easy to hoodwink the system, says Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
