'We are at the moment working with India to encourage India to hold accountable, those responsible for this terrible crime'
It seems that the West is sending a signal to India that it can return to old hostilities unless India toes their line on Russia. It is no surprise that India is being compared with Putin's Russia in terms of targeting 'dissidents' as the West calls these Khalistani terrorists, asserts Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
The $10.5 billion arms and equipment deal helped to arrest the recent drift in the 'special and privileged' strategic partnership, observes Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (retd).
India's population is projected to peak in the early 2060s at about 1.7 billion and then decline by 12 per cent, but the country will remain the world's most populous throughout the century, the United Nations has said.
'Trump would like the war in Ukraine to be over, and that it would be weighing on his mind even before the Inauguration ceremony in January next year.'
'The future of BRICS is under stress as Chinese attempts to expand the platform are being resisted by India and Brazil.' 'Beijing is focused on a quick expansion with the aim of giving the platform a distinctly anti-Western orientation, which New Delhi and Brasilia seem to have no interest in,' notes Harsh V Pant.
The virtual meeting between the two leaders came in the midst of some disquiet in Washington over India's position on the Ukraine crisis as well as its decision to procure discounted Russian oil.
The government has received requests for facilitation of early discharge of some Indian nationals purportedly recruited into the Russian armed forces in unclear circumstances, he said.
'Trump has no more elections to fight and his soaring ambition, which is no secret, will be to carve out a presidential legacy that outshines by far all his mediocre predecessors.' 'Trump's turnaround on the H-1B visa debate shows that he can take tough decisions and there are no holy cows in his domain,' asserts Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Vladimir Putin held the 21st India-Russia summit, covering an array of areas with an aim to further enhance the special and privileged strategic partnership between the two countries.
"We hope that the parties involved will not allow a new aggravation of the situation in the region as a result of the decisions."
Indian economy is in a sweet spot, with a mix of solid growth and moderating inflation, Moody's Ratings said, forecasting a 7.2 per cent GDP growth in the 2024 calendar year and 6.6 per cent in the next. In its Global Macro Outlook 2025-26, the rating agency said the global economy has shown remarkable resilience in bouncing back from supply chain disruptions during the pandemic, an energy and food crisis after the Russia-Ukraine war began, high inflation and consequent monetary policy tightening.
The increase in India's military spending was "mainly a result of growing personnel and operations costs" which made up almost 80 percent of the total military budget in 2023, the SIPRI report claimed.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Saturday said the breakthrough agreement with China on patrolling along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) does not mean that issues between the two countries have been resolved, however, the disengagement allows us to look at the next step.
'In India, legal advocates and faith leaders from across the country's diverse religious communities condemned a case of extreme hate speech against Muslims in the city of Haridwar, calling for the country to uphold its historical traditions of pluralism and tolerance'
India's net oil import bill could widen to $101-104 billion in current fiscal from $96.1 billion in 2023-24 and any escalation in the Iran-Israel conflict could impart an upward pressure on the value of imports, ICRA said on Tuesday. The domestic rating agency said based on its analysis, lower value of Russian oil imports is estimated to have led to savings of $7.9 billion in 11 months (April-February) of 2023-24, up from $5.1 billion in 2022-23.
If India signs the deal, it would be the second customer of the prized missile system after China which had struck a $3 billion contract last year.
Mikheev said Russia and India are holding talks with a view to sign a contract for 48 (Mi-17V-5) helicopters.
With consensus eluding on the paragraph relating to the Ukraine conflict, India on Friday circulated a draft summit declaration among the member countries without the paragraph on the geopolitical issue in an attempt to hammer out a positive outcome.
India and Russia today signed an agreement on civil nuclear cooperation with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh describing it as a "new milestone" in bilateral relations.
During his just-concluded visit to China, Muizzu, regarded as a pro-China leader, sought to align Maldives closer to Beijing and both countries elevated their ties to a strategic partnership.
Expressing the hope that the bilateral strategic partnership with Russia will achieve further heights, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday said the rapid growth of the two economies will create new opportunities for mutual cooperation, particularly in the area of energy security.
A 23-year-old man from Surat working as a 'helper' for the Russian Army was killed in a Ukrainian missile strike in a war zone, as per the claim made by his relatives.
If a workable compromise is found and Russia'S Western borders are left undisturbed with a suitable buffer, it will indicate that the US is indeed serious about its focus on China, observes Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
Global head of equity strategy at Jefferies, Christopher Wood, has cut his exposure to Indian equities by one percentage point in the Asia-Pacific ex-Japan relative-return portfolio, and Australia and Malaysia by half a percentage point each in favour of China, which has seen a hike in exposure by two percentage points. The rally in China has been fast-forwarded by the approach of a seven-day holiday with the CSI 300 Index up 8.5 per cent on Monday, and 25.1 per cent in five trading days, he said.
'Trump's disregard for norms and institutions could prove very costly for America's social fabric.'
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).
The Biden administration's failure in stopping two major wars and several minor ones was seen as a major disaster by many Americans and the world at large, observes Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
The agents allegedly confiscated the passports of Indians arriving in Russia and forced them to fight with the armed forces, officials said.
The Indian position on the Russia-Ukraine war and the unconditional treaty between China and Russia appear to have caused some ripples in India-US relations and led to a reappraisal of India's usefulness to the US in the eventuality of a conflict with China, notes Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
A year after a Hamas attack against Israel on October 7 and the ensuing Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip, India's trade with most West Asian countries has largely escaped any major disruption, except with countries like Israel, Lebanon, and Jordan. However, repeated flare-ups of geopolitical tensions in the region continue to drive up shipping and logistics costs.
National Security Advisor Ajit Doval held a meeting with top Chinese diplomat Wang Yi during which he emphasised the need for continuing efforts to restore peace and tranquillity in the border areas to remove the 'impediments' to normalcy in bilateral relations.
External Affairs Minister S M Krishna on Thursday said the "time-tested" relationship with Russia will remain India's top foreign policy priority as he held wide-ranging parleys on bilateral and international issues, including Afghanistan, with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in Moscow.
Being with Russia means being on the wrong side of history and Kyiv wants closer and deeper relations with New Delhi, Ukraine's First Deputy Foreign Minister Emine Dzhaparova said on Tuesday while suggesting that the Russian invasion has lessons for countries with 'difficult neighbours'.
'China is India's primary strategic challenge, which will not go away.
India, the official said, has a long history of relations with Russia. They have interests with Russia that go back many, many decades.
According to Jaishankar, the problem is that the Russian authorities maintain that these Indian nationals entered into contracts for services with the Russian army.
The two leaders had a complex relationship yet formed a partnership and even after their parting of ways, the two admired each other in their efforts for India's freedom.
The country may propose pipeline via China when Putin visits this year.
Pakistan Defence Minister Khawaja Asif will attend the SCO defence ministers' meeting in New Delhi on Friday through virtual mode, according to an official readout.
