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NEW DELHI, June 15 (Reuters) - India's defence ministry has approved the procurement of U.S.-made armed MQ-9B SeaGuardian drones, sources told Reuters on Thursday. India will buy 31 drones made by General Atomics worth slightly over $3 billion, one of the sources said. India’s defence ministry did not respond to a request for comment. The defence ministry's initial clearance for the procurement comes just days before Prime Minister Narendra Modi leaves for a state visit to the U.S. next week. The U.S. government approved the sale of 30 drones to India more than two years ago, but the Indian defence ministry had been sitting on the decision.

Persons: General Atomics, Narendra Modi, Joe Biden, Biden, Jake Sullivan, Ajit Doval, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, Modi, Lloyd Austin, Krishn Kaushik, Jan Harvey Organizations: Reuters, U.S, Modi, . National, Modi's, Thomson Locations: DELHI, U.S, India, China, Pakistan, New Delhi, Delhi, Russia

☆ Akhand Bharat: Why a map in India's new Parliament is making its neighbors nervous
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-13 | by ( Rhea Mogul | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Akhand Bharat,” tweeted Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Pralhad Joshi alongside a photograph of the map. “Akhand Bharat in (the) New Parliament. It also took place on the birthday of the late Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, the man widely considered to have developed the Hindutva ideology and one of the first proponents of Akhand Bharat. “We have to see the dream of Akhand Bharat in this lifetime and it has started with (this),” said deputy chief minister of the state of Maharashtra, Devendra Fadnavis. Faisal Khan/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images/FileExperts say such rhetoric has made India’s neighbors nervous.

Persons: Arindam Bagchi, Ashoka, Akhand Bharat, Bharat, ”, Pralhad Joshi, Akhand, Manoj Kotak, Bharat ”, Bharat ’, Mumtaz Zahra Baloch, –, KP Sharma Oli, Baburam Bhattarai, Shahriar Alam, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, “, Salil Tripathi, Narendra Modi, Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, Savarkar, Modi, Amit Shah, Praful, Sushant Singh, Manjunath Kiran, Critics, Devendra Fadnavis, Faisal Khan, Ayesha Jalal, Fahd Humayun Organizations: CNN, India’s Ministry, External Affairs, Bharatiya Janata Party, BJP, Parliamentary, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, stoke, Mahasabha, Hindustan Times, Centre for Policy Research, Getty, India’s, Anadolu Agency, Tufts University Locations: Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, New Delhi, India, Afghanistan, Myanmar, “, Kathmandu, New York, Mumbai, ” India, Indian, Kashmir, Karnataka, Bangalore, Maharashtra, Srinagar

☆ India rebukes Canada over parade float showing assassination of Indira Gandhi
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

NEW DELHI, June 8 (Reuters) - India's foreign minister on Thursday hit out at Canada for allowing a float in a parade depicting the 1984 assassination of Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by her bodyguards, perceived to be glorification of violence by Sikh separatists. "I think it is not good for relationships, not good for Canada," he said. Canada's High Commissioner for India also condemned the incident at a parade by Sikh activists in the Canadian city of Brampton. "I am appalled by reports of an event in Canada that celebrated the assassination of late Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi," Cameron MacKay said on Twitter. Indira Gandhi was assassinated in 1984 by two Sikh bodyguards after she allowed the storming of the holiest Sikh temple, aimed at flushing out Sikh separatists who demanded an independent homeland to be known as Khalistan.

Persons: Indira Gandhi, Jaishankar, Gandhi, Cameron MacKay, Canada's, Rupam, Peter Graff Organizations: Indian, Sikh, Canada, Canada's, Twitter, Reuters, Thomson Locations: DELHI, Canada, New Delhi, India, Canadian, Brampton, Punjab

☆ BRICS meet with 'friends' seeking closer ties amid push to expand bloc
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-02 | by ( Wendell Roelf | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] Foreign ministers of BRICS nations pose for a family photo with representatives from Africa and the global South during a summit in Cape Town, South Africa, June 2, 2023. BRICS, which now consists of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, is considering expanding its membership, and a growing number of countries, mostly from the global South, have expressed interest in joining. Developed countries have never met their commitments to the developing world and are trying to shift all responsibility to the global South," Pandor said. Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said Thursday's talks had included deliberations on the guiding principles, standards, criteria and procedures of what an expanded BRICS bloc would look like. As an ICC member, South Africa would face pressure to arrest Putin were he to travel to the summit.

Persons: Naledi Pandor, Pandor, Mauro Vieira, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, Thursday's, Africa's Pandor, Vladimir Putin, Putin, Carien du, Krishn Kaushik, Joe Bavier, Mark Heinrich Our Organizations: Russian Foreign Ministry, REUTERS, South Africa's, United Arab, Democratic, Cape Town, International Criminal Court, ICC, Thomson Locations: Africa, Cape Town , South Africa, REUTERS CAPE, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, Cuba, Democratic Republic of Congo, Comoros, Gabon, Kazakhstan, Egypt, Argentina, Bangladesh, Guinea, Bissau, Indonesia, Johannesburg, Pretoria, Carien du Plessis

☆ BRICS ministers put on show of strength as Putin arrest warrant looms large
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-01 | by ( Wendell Roelf | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

"The answer is the president (Cyril Ramaphosa) will indicate what the final position of South Africa is. At a news conference later, the ministers side-stepped a barrage of questions about the Putin issue. The ICC accused Putin in March of the war crime of forcibly deporting children from Russian-occupied territory in Ukraine. South Africa had invited Putin in January. The BRICS bloc "was inclusive ... in sharp contrast to some countries' small circle, and so I believe the enlargement of BRICS will be beneficial to the BRICS countries," he said.

Persons: Putin, Naledi Pandor, Vladimir Putin, Pandor, Cyril Ramaphosa, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, Ma Zhaoxu, Hossein Amir, Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, Carien du Plessis, Anait, Bhargav Acharya, Nellie Peyton, Alexander Winning, Estelle Shirbon, Joe Bavier, John Stonestreet, Ros Russell, Andrew Heavens Organizations: West, International Criminal Court, ICC, United Nations Security Council, New Development Bank, China's, BRICS, Iran's, Saudi, United, Thomson Locations: Cape Town, Africa, South Africa, Johannesburg, Brazil, Russia, India, China, Ukraine, Moscow, Beijing, Venezuela, Argentina, Algeria, United Arab Emirates

☆ EU will go easy on Indian resale of Russian fuel
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-23 | by ( Shritama Bose | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Yet, the risk of an energy inflation resurgence makes a European Union ban on Russian oil reselling a tough call. The war in Ukraine has offered India an opportunity to boost purchases of discounted Russian oil. European imports of oil derivatives jumped to 200,000 barrels per day after the EU banned Russian crude products imports on Feb. 5 from 154,000 barrels previously, according to Kpler data. And New Delhi argues oil products substantially transformed in a third country cannot be subject to EU sanctions. loadingTo avoid an open clash with India, the EU could try to target European companies buying Russian-origin refined oil.

☆ Borrell urges EU to crack down on imports of Indian fuels made with Russian oil -FT
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

India has emerged in the past year as a top buyer of Russian oil following Moscow's invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022. Russia's largest oil producer Rosneft (ROSN.MM) and top Indian refiner Indian Oil Corp (IOC.NS) have also signed a term deal to substantially increase and diversify oil grades delivered to India. According to ship-tracking data from Kpler, Reliance Industries (RELI.NS) and Nayara Energy were the key exporters of refined fuels and buyers of Russian oil. However, that has increased to 200,000 bpd after the EU banned Russian oil products imports from Feb. 5 this year, data from Kpler shows. Any mechanism to stem the flow of Russian oil would need to be implemented by the national authorities, Borrell told the FT, suggesting that the EU could target buyers of Indian refined fuels which it believes are derived from Russian crude.

☆ China assures Russia, India of deepening 'cooperation'
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/3] India's Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and his Chinese counterpart Qin Gang pose for a photograph during the SCO Council of Foreign Ministers' meeting in Goa, India, May 4, 2023. Currently the bloc includes Russia, India, China, Pakistan and four Central Asian countries - Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Iran and Belarus are expected to be inducted into the SCO at a summit in New Delhi in July, an Indian foreign ministry official said. In a separate meeting with Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, Qin said China is willing to deepen "coordination and cooperation" on international and regional issues with India and bring ties back to a "healthy" track of development. China's ties with India have deteriorated since 2020, when their troops clashed on a disputed Himalayan border and 24 people were killed.

☆ India's ties with Russia remain steady. But Moscow's tighter embrace of China makes it wary
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( Sumathi Bala | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

(PRAKASH SINGH/AFP via Getty Images) Prakash Singh | Afp | Getty ImagesIndia's relationship with Russia remains steadfast as both sides seek to deepen their economic ties. Russia also wants to "intensify" free trade discussions with India, Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov said during a visit to Delhi. watch nowIt's becoming "more difficult with every passing day because of the closeness that we are witnessing between Beijing and Moscow," Pant noted. This defense cooperation is vital given India's tensions along the Himalayan border with an increasingly assertive China, said ORF's Pant. Now, the country cannot expect Russia to play "the same strategic role for India as it used to prior to the Ukraine war.

HOUSTON/NEW DELHI, April 21 (Reuters) - South America's fastest growing oil producer has turned down the Indian government's request for discounted crude oil purchases during trade discussions, Guyana Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo said on Thursday. Guyana's oil production in total has tripled from a year ago to about 380,000 barrels of oil per day. "Any sale of our crude will have to be on commercial terms, not a discounted terms," Jagdeo said at a briefing. Indian buyers have sought a discount to compensate for high freight costs to send its oil to the Asian country, Jagdeo said. "Guyana crude is costly for us because of high freight.

☆ India, Russia in talks on free trade deal
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar attends a news conference following talks with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Moscow, Russia, November 8, 2022. Maxim Shipenkov/Pool via REUTERSNEW DELHI, April 17 (Reuters) - India and Russia are discussing a free trade agreement, ministers said on Monday, a move that would further deepen bilateral commercial ties that have flourished since war broke out in Ukraine. Russia, a traditional defence equipment supplier, also displaced Iraq last month to become India's top supplier of crude oil. Moscow was looking to increase machinery imports from India to improve the trade balance, Manturov said. India too aims to narrow its growing trade deficit with Russia, which has been India's largest supplier of military equipment for decades and is the fourth-biggest market for Indian pharmaceuticals.

☆ India rejects China's renaming of places along disputed border
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

NEW DELHI/BEIJING, April 4 (Reuters) - India rejected on Tuesday the renaming by China of places in what India regards as its eastern state of Arunachal Pradesh, which China claims as part of its territory. The statement included a map that showed the 11 places renamed by China as being within "Zangnan", or southern Tibet in Chinese, with Arunachal Pradesh included in southern Tibet and China's border with India demarcated as just north of the Brahmaputra river. "Arunachal Pradesh is, has been and will always be an integral and inalienable part of India," Indian foreign ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said on Twitter. But a spokesperson at the Chinese foreign ministry said the name changes were "completely within the scope of China's sovereignty". "The southern Tibet region is Chinese territory," the spokesperson, Mao Ning, told a regular media briefing in Beijing on Tuesday.

☆ U.S. pick for World Bank, Ajay Banga, to meet with Modi in native India
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( David Lawder | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The Treasury said Banga will visit New Delhi on March 23 and 24, where his likeness has already been posted on billboards. "These discussions will focus on India’s development priorities, the World Bank, and global economic development challenges," the Treasury said in a statement. The World Bank will accept nominations from other countries until March 29, but no competitors have been announced. The World Bank has been led by an American since its founding at the end of World War Two, while the International Monetary Fund has been led by a European. In India, Banga will also visit a vocational skills development institute funded in part by the World Bank, the Treasury said.

☆ India says situation with China fragile, dangerous in the Himalayan front
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

NEW DELHI, March 18 (Reuters) - The situation between India and China in the western Himalayan region of Ladakh is fragile and dangerous, with military forces deployed very close to each other in some parts, Indian Foreign Minister S Jaishankar said on Saturday. At least 24 soldiers were killed when the two sides clashed in the region in mid-2020, but the situation has been calmed through rounds of diplomatic and military talks. "The situation to my mind still remains very fragile because there are places where our deployments are very close up and in military assessment therefore quite dangerous," Jaishankar said at an India Today conclave. Jaishankar said he discussed the situation with China's new foreign minister, Qin Gang, on the sidelines of a meeting of the foreign ministers of the G20 nations hosted by India this month. Two G20 ministerial meetings in India in the last three weeks have been overshadowed by Russia's 13-month invasion of Ukraine.

☆ World should move on from Ukraine war, focus on poverty - India's G20 negotiator
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

NEW DELHI, March 15 (Reuters) - Russia's war in Ukraine has brought the world to a standstill when urgent action is needed to address growing global poverty, India's G20 summit negotiator Amitabh Kant said on Wednesday. Kant's comments follow two back-to-back G20 ministerial meetings in India in the last three weeks overshadowed by the war, which entered its second year last month. "Europe cannot bring growth, poverty, global debt, all developmental issues to a standstill across the world," Kant told reporters. "Nutrition has been impacted, health outcomes have been impacted, learning outcomes have been impacted, people have become stunted and wasted and we are just concerned with one Russia and Ukraine war," Kant said. Putin has not travelled beyond the former Soviet Union since sending his armed forces into Ukraine in February last year, and missed November's G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia.

The government said the BBC had failed to respond to repeated requests to clarify its tax affairs related to the profits and remittances from its Indian operations. The documentary, which was only broadcast in Britain, accused Modi of fostering a climate of impunity that fuelled the violence. Reuters spoke to eight Indian journalists, industry executives and media analysts who said that some media which reported critically on the government have been targeted with inspections by government agencies, the suspension of state advertising, and the arrest of reporters. Modi's government has vigorously denied the BBC tax inspection - the first against an international news organisation in decades - was a response to the film. Gupta said there had been complaints after the government reduced its advertising spending but that was not an assault on media freedom.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to end the war and urged Moscow to reverse its suspension of the New START nuclear treaty, a senior U.S. official said. The Russian foreign ministry said Lavrov and Blinken spoke "on the move" for less than 10 minutes at the end of the closed-door session, and did not engage in any negotiations, Russian news agencies reported. Blinken later told a news conference he had told Lavrov to engage in diplomacy during the unscheduled encounter. [1/6] U.S Secretary of State Antony Blinken (top L) walks past Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (lower) during the G20 foreign ministers' meeting in New Delhi on March 2, 2023. French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna said the war in Ukraine had hurt "almost every country on the planet, in terms of food, energy, inflation".

☆ China urges global lenders' involvement in developing nations' debt
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/3] Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang and India's Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar shake hands before the start of G20 foreign ministers' meeting in New Delhi, India, March 2, 2023. India's Ministry of External Affairs/Handout via REUTERSNEW DELHI, March 2 (Reuters) - Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang called on global financial institutions on Thursday to play an active role in restructuring the debt of developing countries. "China has put forth relevant initiatives under the G20," Qin said. "China has suspended more debt service payments than any other G20 member, and participated in the debt treatment under the Common Framework." Last week, China urged G20 nations to conduct a fair, objective and in-depth analysis of the causes of global debt issues and to "resolve the problem in a comprehensive and effective manner".

[1/5] A man walks past a model of G20 logo outside the finance ministry in New Delhi, India, March 1, 2023. Germany responded saying it would counter Russian "propaganda" at the G20 meeting. The foreign ministers meeting comes days after a meeting of finance chiefs of G20 countries in Bengaluru that was also overshadowed by Russia's war in Ukraine. An EU source separately said the EU delegation would not support a statement at the G20 meeting if it did not include condemnation of the war. The G20 includes the wealthy G7 nations as well as Russia, China, India, Brazil, Australia and Saudi Arabia, among other nations.

☆ UK foreign minister raises BBC tax searches, India says laws are for all
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( Krishn Kaushik | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/3] British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly gestures during an interview with Reuters after a bilateral meeting with India's Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar on the sidelines of G20 foreign ministers' meeting in New Delhi, India, March 1, 2023. REUTERS/Sunil KatariaNEW DELHI, March 1 (Reuters) - British Foreign Minister James Cleverly raised the issue of tax searches at the BBC's offices in India during a meeting with his counterpart in New Delhi on Wednesday, the minister told Reuters. In response, Cleverly was "firmly told that all entities operating in India must comply fully with relevant laws and regulations", an Indian government source said. Cleverly did not share details about the conversation with India's Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar ahead of a G20 foreign ministers' meeting on Thursday. Asked if there were concerns about civil liberties in India, Cleverly said: "We want to ensure that values that both our countries feel strongly about are upheld.

[1/2] The Gateway of India monument in Mumbai is lit up to mark India's G20 presidency on December 13, 2022. REUTERS/Francis Mascarenhas/File PhotoBENGALURU, Feb 22 (Reuters) - India does not want the Group of 20 nations to discuss additional sanctions on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine during New Delhi's one-year presidency of the bloc, six senior Indian government officials told Reuters. "India is not keen to discuss or back any additional sanctions on Russia during the G20," said one of the officials. "The existing sanctions on Russia have had a negative impact on the world." India has also sharply raised purchases of oil from Russia, its biggest supplier of defence hardware.

☆ India hits back after George Soros says Adani troubles will greatly weaken Modi's grip on power
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-20 | by ( Sumathi Bala | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

NDIA - JANUARY 18: Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Gautam Adani, chairman and founder of the Adani Group, and other delegates at Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit, at Mahatma Mandir Exhibition cum Convention Centre, on January 18, 2019 in Gandhinagar, India. India slammed billionaire investor George Soros after he alleged the Adani turmoil will weaken Prime Minister Narendra Modi's grip on power and lead to a "democratic revival" in the country. The Adani Group has denied those allegations, calling the report a "calculated attack on India." Last week, Soros criticized the prime minister saying India was a democracy but Modi "is no democrat." Over the weekend, India's foreign minister, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, told a conference in Sydney that Soros' comments were typical of a "Euro-Atlantic view" and rejected his accusations.

☆ India FM Jaishankar says Soros dangerous, debate needed on democracy
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SYDNEY, Feb 18 (Reuters) - India’s foreign minister said the democratic world needed a debate on democracy, labelling billionaire investor George Soros “old, rich, opinionated and dangerous” for his comments on India that didn’t recognise its difficult path from colonisation. In a speech ahead of the Munich Security Conference the billionaire investor Soros on Thursday criticised India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying India was a democracy but Modi was not a democrat. read moreIndia’s Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar told a conference in Sydney on Saturday that Soro's comments were typical of a "Euro Atlantic view". He said there was “a debate and conversation that we must have on democracy”, including whose values defined a democracy as the world rebalanced and became less Euro Atlantic. The Australian Strategic Policy Institute think-tank hosted a one-day conference where Jaishankar highlighted in a speech the urgent need to "de-risk the global economy" as India took over the G20 presidency.

☆ India says it is committed to boosting investment in crisis-hit Sri Lanka
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( Uditha Jayasinghe | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

"We count on the government of Sri Lanka to provide a more business friendly environment to create a powerful pull factor." India has told the global lender that it strongly supports Sri Lanka's debt restructuring plan, with Sri Lanka owing about$1 billion to its nearest neighbour. We extended financial assurances to the IMF to clear the way for Sri Lanka to move forward." China is Sri Lanka's largest bilateral lender and the last remaining major creditor to yet to agree to the plan. Sri Lanka owed Chinese lenders $7.4 billion, or nearly a fifth of its public external debt, by the end of last year, calculations by the China Africa Research Initiative show.

☆ India foreign minister visits Sri Lanka with stronger ties, China in focus
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( Uditha Jayasinghe | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

During his two-day visit, his third to Sri Lanka since 2021, minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar will look to strengthen India's ties with its debt-ridden neighbour and sign several key deals. The two countries are also expected to sign a Memorandum of Understanding for a renewable power project covering three islands in Sri Lanka's north during Jaishankar's visit, two sources at Sri Lanka's power and energy ministry said. Jaishankar will meet Sri Lanka's president on Friday morning, his office confirmed. He will also hold discussions with Sri Lanka's prime minister and foreign minister, according to a statement from India's foreign ministry. "The U.S. stands ready to assist Sri Lanka to unlock IMF assistance when all creditors agree to fair and equitable treatment," Julie Chung, the U.S. ambassador to Sri Lanka, said in a tweet on Thursday.

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