External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Wednesday held wide-ranging talks with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov focusing on the Ukraine conflict, bilateral ties and issues relating to the G20 foreign ministers' meeting.
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.
Russia on Monday accused the US of "actively" exploiting the "contradictions" between India and China to its advantage and asserted Moscow and New Delhi accumulated mutual trust and confidence based on decades-old ties that would help the two sides to deal with the current geopolitical turbulence.
As the world continues to rage under the ongoing conflicts in Europe and the Middle East, the two presidential candidates in the United States, Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump during the presidential debate hosted by ABC News on Tuesday (local time), presented their views on ending the conflict and Washington, DC's role in it.
Citing details of the contract from the American Federal Procurement Data System, the BBC report claimed that Pakistan signed two contracts with American companies named "Global Military" and "Northrop Grumman" for the sale of 155mm shells.
With United States President Donald Trump reiterating his claims of brokering a ceasefire between India and Pakistan, the Congress on Wednesday asked what do the 'typically loquacious' Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar have to say about this revelation and did they 'mortgage' India's security interests in the face of US 'pressure'.
'If they aim to remain aligned with the public sentiment, as any democratic government should, then they must respond. Why else would the prime minister have cut short his visit to Saudi Arabia? And why would he have instructed the home minister himself to travel to Srinagar to assess the situation firsthand? This suggests that something is indeed being planned. I am quite certain of that, although the exact form it will take remains to be seen.'
Jaishankar said all members would agree that India's approach should be guided by its national beliefs and values, national interest and by its national strategy.
The talks took place on the sidelines of the G-20 foreign ministers' meeting in the Indonesian city of Bali.
India is deeply concerned over the spike in the price of oil due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict and it is "breaking our back," External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has said. Addressing a joint press conference with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken after holding bilateral talks, Jaishankar on Tuesday said there is a very deep concern among developing countries about how their energy needs are addressed. Speaking about the Ukraine war, he said: "We have taken the position privately, publicly, confidentially and consistently that this conflict is not in anybody's interest."
"Wagner is a violent and destructive organisation which has acted as a military tool of [President] Vladimir Putin's Russia overseas," said UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman.
With Western corporations, including Microsoft, AWS and Oracle, shutting down their operations in Russia, the rest of the world has become acutely aware of its dependence on a clutch of technology service providers.
Lavrov said a rupee-rouble payment system for trade with India was put into place earlier and it could be strengthened further.
United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken has warned China that its 'material support' for Russia's war against Ukraine would attract sanctions and condemned the 'unacceptable violation' of American sovereignty by a Chinese spy balloon as he met Beijing's top diplomat Wang Yi.
Tirumurti said India 'has been in touch with all concerned parties. It is our considered view that the issue can only be resolved through diplomatic dialogue.'
Russia on Wednesday said it was working "intensely" to create a "humanitarian corridor" for safe passage to Russian territory for Indians stuck in Kharkiv, Sumy and other conflict zones in Ukraine.
'Geopolitically and diplomatically it's a very difficult situation for India.'
India's brittle energy security is inextricably linked to two opposing paradigms - fossil fuels, and the transition to green energy. The first powers the present; the second paves the way for Viksit Bharat in 2047.
Over the years, there has been a significant change in every field -- from society, politics to economy. Security challenges have also witnessed that change, Singh said.
India's National Security Advisor Ajit Doval held bilateral talks with US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, and chaired a conclave of top global intelligence chiefs focusing on strengthening cooperation in confronting various security challenges including terrorism and threats posed by emerging technologies. The meeting also focused on security in the Indo-Pacific region, cooperation to counter terror funding and money laundering, and issues relating to extradition and immigration.
Outward remittances under the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI's) liberalised remittance scheme (LRS) surged by 50.64 per cent to $9.1 billion in the April-June quarter (first quarter, or Q1) of 2023-24 (FY24), driven by healthy growth across segments due to a revision in the timeline of tax collected at source under the LRS scheme and normalisation in international travel. Major drivers include equity and debt investments, deposits, and the international travel segment, among others. According to the latest RBI data, the amount remitted under LRS stood at $9.1 billion in Q1FY24, compared with $6.05 billion in the same quarter last year.
New initiatives to boost cooperation to ensure stability in the Indo-Pacific, ways to find peaceful solutions to the conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza and addressing concerns of the global South will be the focus of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's three-day visit to the US beginning Saturday.
The advisory comes hours after Russia carried out strikes against multiple Ukrainian cities, including Kyiv.
Following rising tension between Russia and Ukraine, the sports fraternity has become proactive and many events in Russia have been cancelled, including the Russian Grand Prix.
Wang said that the situation in Ukraine has changed rapidly and that China laments the outbreak of the conflict between Ukraine and Russia and is 'extremely concerned' with the harm to civilians, China's state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
With no major domestic market moving triggers this week, equities would continue to look at global factors, foreign fund movement and trend in the rupee for further direction, analysts said. "This week we have the August month F&O expiry where bulls are looking for rest after a gain in the August series," said Santosh Meena, head of research, Swastika Investmart Ltd. "There are not a lot of triggers but global cues, August month F&O expiry, and FIIs' behaviour will be important factors in the direction of the market," he noted.
Emphasising that various issues are on agenda at the G20 under India's leadership.
The Centre is unlikely to announce an agreement over payment mechanism with Russia until a ceasefire is declared in the Ukraine war, said people in the know. An inter-ministerial group headed by the finance ministry has been meeting regularly for over a month to analyse and discuss payment mechanisms that can work under the current circumstances and ensure the trade between India and Russia is not disrupted. The US had recently said that there would be consequences for countries actively attempting to "circumvent or backfill" American sanctions against Russia.
Swiss foreign minister Ignazio Cassis said Russia would be asked to join the peace plan discussions at some point in time but to bring Russia on the table would require mediation by some countries.
China is also providing supertankers and insurance coverage to move Russian Urals crude to PRC ports, as Moscow seeks vessels for exports after a G-7 oil price cap restricted the use of Western cargo services and insurance.
United States President Donald Trump on Wednesday targeted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy over the ongoing war in Ukraine and said that the United States has spent $200 billion more than Europe, while Europe's financial contributions are 'guaranteed' and the US gets no return.
We have already suffered considerable collateral damage as a result of the war, and its continuance will continue to dampen our prospects for faster economic growth. We have a direct and legitimate interest in its early cessation, counsels former foreign secretary Shyam Saran.
The results of Indian IT services players in the just-concluded fourth quarter of 2021-22 are expected to reveal continuing growth momentum as demand surges on the back of digital transformations and the cloud shift, but analysts anticipate margins to be under pressure due to supply challenges. Analysts covering the sector expect revenue commentary should be strong despite the Russia-Ukraine conflict and inflation. Top-line growth will be driven by broad-based demand with a strong uptick for cloud, digital, cybersecurity, data analytics, and artificial intelligence, among other services.
Savings for Indian refiners from purchasing Russian oil have decreased to a third of what they were in the years following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which triggered global crises, sanctions, and discounted Russian oil seeking buyers. Despite this, savings from importing cheap Russian oil were significant enough to help Indian refiners tide over frozen petrol and diesel pump prices.
Brent crude oil prices can touch $150 a barrel (bbl) - up a whopping 103 per cent from the current levels - in the worst-case scenario if the Israel-Iran geopolitical tensions escalate, suggest analysts.
Putin said work would be completed on building storage units for tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus on July 1, a move he likened to US nuclear deployments in Europe.
'As long as we have such partners, Russia cannot be isolated.'
'The succesfully conduct of the global event would have filled the Indians with pride'
'With profound sorrow we confirm that an Indian student lost his life in shelling in Kharkiv this morning,' the MEA tweeted.
Indian Armed Forces brought down a number of these drones using kinetic and non-kinetic means.
