'The pitch for India is flat, the ball for India is old, the sun for India is out, and the bowlers are not bowling too well.' 'I think only we can get ourselves out.'
Taking advantage of a Russian offer to sell its crude oil cheap and bear the cost of insurance and transportation, India may import as much as 2 million tonnes (mt), or roughly 15 million barrels of crude, from the sanctioned nation in 2022, Business Standard has learnt. This comes after reports that Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) bought 3 million barrels of Russian Urals from trader Vitol for May delivery. This will be on cost, insurance and freight (CIF) model, where the seller incurs the costs and pays the freight, including insurance charges.
The visit next week, which is yet to be formally announced by Downing Street, follows the successful completion of four out of 26 chapters in the ongoing India-UK free trade agreement negotiations.
Though the two-day SCO Council of Foreign Ministers' meeting began at the Taj Exotica Resort in Benaulim on Thursday evening with a reception hosted by Jaishankar, the main deliberations took place on Friday.
In his pre-departure statement, he said trade ties between India and Russia can increase even further, to benefit not only the two nations but also the world.
From the peak of $3.67 trillion in January, India's market cap has eroded by $676 billion amid rising bond yields and a record-breaking sell-off by overseas investors.
During the talks with the Russian leaders, the defence minister will also ask them to expedite the delivery of the S-400 air defence systems which are supposed to be delivered by the end of next year. The Russians had postponed the delivery schedule by several months due to delay in payments over certain issues.
Following are the highlights of the Economic Survey 2022-23 tabled in Parliament on Tuesday
Russia enjoys a very unique place in India's foreign relations with their strategic partnership covering the entire spectrum of the bilateral cooperation, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said in Moscow.
Only the future will tell if Modi can leave his mark on the Ukraine crisis. Nonetheless, it is both a challenge and an opportunity for India's diplomacy, notes Rup Narayan Das.
It is time the political leaderships in this country arrived at a common ground over issues of foreign and security policy concerns. There has to be a greater communication between the government and the Opposition leaderships for the nation to present a unified face against the rest of the world, advises N Sathiya Moorthy.
Relations with Russia are very important for India and do not depend on one contract or a single event, Defence Minister A K Antony said after witnessing a live demonstration of Indian Air Force's ability to deliver the lethal punch at Pokharan near Jaisalmer on Saturday.
Around 200 military personnel from the two sides would take part in the joint military exercises.
A day ahead of a crucial G20 meeting, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Wednesday evening hosted a welcome dinner for the foreign ministers attending the deliberations but the reception was missed by his counterparts from the US, China, Germany and France.
India's exports may have touched an all-time high of $422 billion in 2021-22 but recession in key western markets and geo-political crisis due to the Russia-Ukraine war are expected to impact the growth of the country's outbound shipments in 2023. All the global trade promoting factors like political stability, movement of goods, adequate availability of containers and shipping lines, demand, stable currency and smooth banking systems are in disarray. Adding to the woes, COVID cases have again started rising in countries like China, Japan, South Korea and the US.
Former National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Official Mike Gold has said Chandrayaan-3's success is a triumph of Indian innovation, human capital and the capabilities that will take India even further.
The vaccination drive was only one important part of India's globally recognised pandemic management and response strategy, observes Dr Vinod K Paul.
'China would want to take a tougher stance against India forming those strategic partnerships and prevent Quad from becoming a military alliance.'
India shifted gears in rejuvenating strategic ties with its major partners like the US and Russia and focused on drumming up global support for its distinct strategy in the Indo-Pacific to check Beijing's increasing muscle-flexing in the region.
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.
'Nine missiles from India had been pointed towards Pakistan, to be launched any time that day'
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has apologised for the Canadian Parliament's recognition of a man who fought for a Nazi unit during World War II, an incident that drew global condemnation and was termed by the Opposition as the 'biggest single diplomatic embarrassment' in the country's history.
Lavrov said a rupee-rouble payment system for trade with India was put into place earlier and it could be strengthened further.
Two Russian flights with oxygen concentrators, lung ventilation equipment, bedside monitors, medicines, including Coronavir and other essential pharmaceutical items landed in India to help the country in its fight against the COVID-19 surge.
During the trip, Mukherjee will hold bilateral talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on civil nuclear cooperation, defence ties and partnership in higher education.
His comment comes weeks after he met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in New Delhi during which both the leaders discussed strengthening trade and infrastructure relations.
Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and his counterparts from Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan are also attending the meeting to be chaired by Rajnath Singh.
The unalloyed truth about the Ukraine-Russia conflict is that it is a war that Russia cannot lose and Ukraine cannot win, observes Colonel Anil Athale (retd).
Travel from India increased significantly after resumption of direct flights in March, Turkiye Tourism Board said, with destination weddings contributing to arrivals
India has not yet received any confirmation on Chinese President Xi Jinping's in-person participation at the upcoming G20 summit, people familiar with the matter said on Thursday amid reports that he is likely skip the conclave.
Two-wheeler exports from India have decreased by 20 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) to 1.69 million units in the first half (H1) of 2023-24 (FY24) due to a challenging geopolitical situation and foreign exchange (forex) crises in key markets such as South Asia, industry body Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (Siam) said on Monday. On the other hand, passenger vehicle (PV) exports in H1FY24 increased by 5 per cent to 336,754 units because the key markets are much more diversified worldwide, Vinod Aggarwal, president, Siam, told reporters during a press conference. The Russia-Ukraine war, which started in February 2022, has brought significant instability to global fuel prices.
Kissinger's approach of balance of power, secret diplomacy and moderating ideology are the need of the hour. That is the greatest tribute to an intellectual who had a major impact on the world in his lifetime, notes Colonel Anil A Athale.
Washington is signalling to Delhi that it can rely on American support in any great game vis-a-vis China. Delhi shouldn't fall into the trap, argues Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
There have been growing global concerns over China's sweeping claims of sovereignty over all of the South China Sea, a huge source of hydrocarbons.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Bali on Monday for the G20 Summit and bilateral meetings on its sidelines with key leaders attending this annual conference of the world's major economies.
With developments like the Russia-China alliance and the rise of China in the Middle East, India's role has diminished though the India-Israel-US-UAE grouping may assume some importance in the future, observes Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
The flawed Indian policy toward Afghanistan is missing the woods for the trees. The Modi government doesn't have a 'big picture', observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar, who played a stellar role in beginning India's systemic dealings in Afghanistan in 1994.
The medical equipment and other supplies were brought to Delhi in a C-5M Super Galaxy, one of the largest strategic airlift aircraft of the US Air Force.
'With Trump, the relationship was very transactional, whereas with President Biden it is very structured.'
