The Gulf countries, a major source of NRI remittances to India, have been experiencing unprecedented growth in the cost of living on the one hand and a steep decline in exchange rates due to most Gulf currencies' peg to the dollar.
With the global financial crisis affecting Indians in the Gulf region, Vice President Hamid Ansari has said the Indian government was mulling steps to ensure the welfare of expatriates reeling under the meltdown.
Despite difficult working conditions, Indians are still seeking jobs in Gulf countries
Arab Gulf economies are set to benefit from large government spending programmes and high oil prices in the second half of the year, despite concerns over political turmoil in the Middle East and Europe's sovereign debt crisis, a senior bank official has said.
The oil industry experienced three upheavals between 1973 and 1991, which seem to be etched in the memory of the industry's decision makers. Naturally, at the sign of a new crisis, the decision makers like to dip into those tumultuous decades to find ways to deal with the new shock, in addition, of course, to expert reports and forecasts. So, the industry bigwigs turned the pages of history to get a peek into the future of oil price movements after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, Israel attacked Gaza in 2023, Iran-linked Houthi rebels pounded tankers crossing the Red Sea in support of Palestine the same year, and Iran rained missiles on Israel in 2024.
Modi held several bilateral and trilateral meetings with world leaders.
The United States has ordered the aircraft carrier USS George H W Bush to move into the Arabian Gulf to provide President Barack Obama with options for possible military action against militants in Iraq.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu termed it the 'largest cooperation project in our history', one that would 'change the face of the Middle East, Israel, and impact the entire world'.
The proposed India-Israel trade pact should be beneficial to both nations and until New Delhi gets a good deal, it would not do an agreement, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said. India and Israel are negotiating a free trade agreement (FTA) since May 2010. "With Israel, until we get a good deal, we will not do an FTA. It has to be reciprocally beneficial," the minister said in San Francisco on Tuesday while interacting with the Indian community.
India is expected to be the top recipient of remittances in 2023 as inflows increase 12.4 per cent to $125 billion, said a World Bank report on Tuesday. Mexico will come next by receiving $67 billion and China will follow it at $50 billion. The key drivers for remittance growth in 2023 are a tight labour market in the United States, high employment growth in Europe reflecting extensive leveraging of worker retention programs, and a dampening of inflation in high-income countries. India's growth in remittances is expected to halve to 12.4 per cent in 2023 from a historic peak of 24.4 per cent in 2022.
Saturday's drone attack on MV Chem Pluto came amid increasing concerns over various commercial vessels being targeted reportedly by Iran-backed Houthi militants in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden amid the Israel-Hamas conflict.
Indian Navy's elite marine commandos on Friday rescued 21 crew members including 15 Indians from a bulk carrier in the North Arabian Sea and sanitised it in a swift operation while responding to an attempted hijacking of the Liberian-flagged vessel by around five-six armed personnel.
The chief of the army staff said that with one-third of the world in the Gulf region and elsewhere involved in some sort of conflict and war, "it is important that we keep the flames of fire away from our region."
During the discussions attended by Simon Williams, Chief Economist at HSBC, Chirag Shah, Head of Strategy and Corporate Planning at DIFC Authority, and Yousef Bazian, Head of Corporate Finance at PwC in the Middle East, a consensus emerged that the Gulf region has achieved considerable non-oil economic growth.
Looks at sovereign funds and Fortune 500 firms.
The Gulf region is set to gain another financial exchange after Financial Technologies, an Indian trading technology company, announced its plans on Wednesday, to set up an operation in Bahrain next year.
The Bahrain Formula One Grand Prix will go ahead this month without spectators due to the coronavirus crisis, a blow to the Gulf's Arab states important tourism sector. Bahrain, which is hosting the second round of the Formula One season on March 22, has reported 83 cases of the virus, mostly linked to people who had travelled to Iran.
The US drone strike that killed Ayman al-Zawahiri has raised questions over Pakistan's possible role in the raid amid reports suggesting that the country's airspace could have been used for carrying out the precision strike on the Al Qaeda chief's safe house in Kabul.
The Indian team was just too good for the Irish and the gulf in standard was evident across all departments.
Earlier in 2012, the Gurgaon-based firm with 5,000 employees and top line revenue of close to $100 million, had put on hold plans for a Nasdaq listing citing market conditions.
Close on the heels of introducing a direct flight from Dubai to Nagpur on September 24, Air India Express is adding two more Indian destinations to its schedule, Jaipur and Lucknow, said Freddie Vaz, regional Director of Air India.
Notwithstanding the strain in ties, the navies of India and China carried out a well coordinated operation to rescue a merchant ship in the Gulf of Aden which was hijacked by Somali pirates on Saturday night.
Searching for terrorists, Indian Coast Guard ships are now stopping all merchant vessels and ships moving towards Pakistan and Gulf region and carrying out checks inside them.
Most of India's oil supplies are expected to stay safe because of the country's good relations with both Russia and Iran. That would take care of over a third of India's supplies.
These additional flights will complement the daily flight being operated between the two destinations by the airline, according to a press release.
The procurement is expected to signal a major upswing in India's strategic ties with the Philippines which has been focusing on ramping up its naval prowess in the face of its lingering friction with China in the South China Sea.
With an intent to give a push to India-Qatar ties, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani on Sunday held detailed talks on a wide range of issues.
China for the first time has divulged the deployment of a nuclear submarine for anti-piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden, a move defence experts say could cause unease among neighbours, including India.
During his visit to Oman, Premji said it is potentially a very important market.
The formation of the Indian Business Leaders Forum was announced on Sunday by India Trade & Exhibition Centre Middle East established in Sharjah with the mandate from the Indian Ministry of Commerce and Sharjah Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's long-planned and much-delayed visit to Saudi Arabia has certainly contributed to strengthening of bilateral relations as well as to India's long-term energy security. As India's economic growth rate picks up, and given the uncertainties in the Gulf region, Saudi Arabia's assurances to keep oil supplies flowing and to invest in India's energy security must be welcomed.
It is imperative that India starts re-assessing its options and think clearly as to what India can do to preserve the balance of power in the Gulf region, writes Harsh V Pant.
US authorities have been scrambling to establish how many Americans have been killed or taken hostage in the conflict.
C&W conducted a series of interviews with Chinese and Indian companies already established in Dubai as well as with those companies considering setting up in the region.
A survey by the Arabian Business weekly magazine shows that Landmark boss, Mr Micky Jagtiani, now has close to $1.5 billion more than his nearest rival in the wealth stakes, New Medical Centre Group boss, B R Shetty, who was second with a $1.72 billion fortune.
'Areas within 100 km of the landfall could suffer catastrophic effect.'
Remittances growth is muted due to "structural" reasons which will hamper consumption demand locally, a report said on Thursday. "...the muted external remittances growth is more of a structural issue than transitory," India Ratings and Research said in its note. India has been the largest recipient of remittances from its diaspora spread all across the world and received over $70 billion inflows last year. The agency argued that flows had started to moderate even before the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak, pointing out that as a percentage of gross disposable income, the share of remittances fell to 2.5 per cent in FY19 as against 3.5 per cent in FY10.
Britain is "actively" exploring ways to set up a joint task-force with India during Prime Minister David Cameron's State Visit to New Delhi this month-end in an effort to forge "a partnership for the 21st century."
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