India won't take first step to normalise ties, onus on Pakistan: Tharoor
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The Star
11 minutes ago
- The Star
India proposes law to sack ministers facing criminal charges
NEW DELHI: India's government introduced a bill on Wednesday (Aug 20) to remove top politicians if they are arrested and detained for 30 days, which opponents called a "chilling" bid to crush constitutional safeguards. Several of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's opponents have faced criminal investigation or trial in recent years, including two state chief ministers last year. They include Arvind Kejriwal, then chief minister of the capital Delhi, who spent several months in jail on accusations that his administration received kickbacks from the allocation of liquor licenses. He denied any wrongdoing and characterised the charges as a political witch hunt by Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government. Jharkhand state Chief Minister Hemant Soren, also from the opposition, was arrested and jailed on corruption charges in February 2024, accusations he also denies. Indian Home Minister Amit Shah, who introduced the bill, said the government wanted the "value of ethics to increase". The bill would force politicians out of a ministerial post if they were detained for a month and accused of an offence that carries a jail term of five years or more. India's Association of Democratic Reforms, an organisation working on electoral reform, calculated that almost half of the 543 elected national lawmakers had criminal cases against them. Of those 215 cases, 170 faced serious charges -- including rape, murder, attempt to murder, and kidnapping. "We cannot be so shameless that we face accusations and still remain in a constitutional position," Shah told parliament. However, John Brittas of the Communist Party of India-Marxist warned that "in an era marked by vindictive politics, where central agencies are deployed against opposition leaders, the provisions will be misused for ulterior motives". West Bengal state Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee called the bill a "chilling attempt to establish a rule where judicial scrutiny is silenced, constitutional safeguards are dismantled, and the people's rights are trampled". "This draconian step comes as a death knell for democracy and federalism in India," said Banerjee, who is also from an opposition party. US think tank Freedom House said last year that Modi's BJP had "increasingly used government institutions to target political opponents". - AFP
Business Recorder
11 minutes ago
- Business Recorder
India panel proposes exempting taxes on health, life insurance
NEW DELHI: A panel of Indian state ministers on goods and services tax (GST) has proposed exempting tax on health and life insurance premiums for individuals, two state ministers told reporters on Wednesday. The panel met days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced sweeping cuts to the GST to boost India's economy in the face of trade conflict with Washington. The panel of state ministers has proposed exempting health and life insurance premiums for individuals from the current 18%, the deputy chief minister of Bihar state, Samrat Chaudhary, said after the meeting in New Delhi. The final decision will be taken by the GST council, which is chaired by the federal finance minister and includes all state finance ministers as members. India's tax restructuring a 'huge reform', will boost competitiveness, Maruti Suzuki chair says The GST council meeting is expected in September or October, before the Hindu festival of Diwali, which is the country's biggest shopping season. The panel expects a revenue loss of 97 billion rupees ($1.11 billion) if health and life insurance premiums for individuals are exempted from GST, added Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, a minister from the southern state of Telangana. In the next GST council meeting, the ministers are also expected to decide on the biggest overhaul of the tax regime since its introduction in 2017.
DW
12 minutes ago
- DW
Is India beefing up China, Russia ties amid US friction? – DW – 08/20/2025
New Delhi has been trying to rebuild ties with Beijing, while continuing its close energy and defense partnership with Russia, amid steep US tariffs on Indian goods. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed "steady progress" in relations with China after meeting Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Tuesday. "Glad to meet Foreign Minister Wang Yi. Since my meeting with President Xi [Jinping] in Kazan last year, India-China relations have made steady progress guided by respect for each other's interests and sensitivities," Modi said on X. "I look forward to our next meeting in Tianjin on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit. Stable, predictable, constructive ties between India and China will contribute significantly to regional as well as global peace and prosperity." Relations between India and China soured after a deadly border clash in 2020, triggering a yearslong standoff between the two nuclear-armed Asian giants. But Beijing and New Delhi have been trying to rebuild ties over the past year. In New Delhi, Wang held talks with his Indian counterpart Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and other senior officials, and the two sides achieved a string of diplomatic breakthroughs. They agreed to resume direct flights, boost trade and investment, facilitate business and cultural exchanges, as well as issue journalist and tourist visas. "This outreach is not directed against any country but is aimed at creating a more peaceful and predictable environment along our border," said Meera Shankar, a former Indian ambassador to the US. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video The thaw in relations comes at a time when there's growing friction between India and the US after President Donald Trump slapped steep tariffs on Indian goods, citing New Delhi's imports of Russian energy, among other reasons. India has decried the tariffs as "unjustified and unreasonable," saying the country is being unfairly singled out for buying Russian oil while the US and the EU continue to purchase goods from Russia. Modi's government said it would "take all necessary steps to protect its national interests," and has also not signaled any intention to cut back purchases of Russian crude. Shankar said while the US is an important strategic and economic partner, its actions have introduced an element of uncertainty about the India-US relationship. "The punitive tariffs that the US has imposed on grounds of Russian oil imports by India, appear to us to be unreasonable. China is importing more oil from Russia than India and is Russia's largest fuel purchaser," Shankar told DW. "EU imports from Russia in 2024 were over $67 billion, again more than India's imports. Yet, India has been singled out by the US for imposition of 25% additional tariff, taking total tariffs to 50%," she said. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video In a flurry of diplomatic activity, Indian Foreign Minister Jaishankar on Tuesday also embarked on a three-day visit to Moscow. "The visit aims to further strengthen the longstanding and time-tested India-Russia Special and Privileged Strategic partnership," India's Foreign Ministry said in a statement. And on Wednesday, a Russian embassy official in New Delhi said Moscow will continue to supply oil to India and that Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet Modi in New Delhi by the end of the year. No dates had been finalized for the Putin-Modi meeting yet, Roman Babushkin, the charge d'affaires at the Russian embassy in India, told reporters at a press briefing. He stressed that India's crude oil imports from Russia will remain at the same level, noting that Moscow has a "very, very special mechanism" to continue oil supplies to the South Asian nation. Indian foreign policy experts told DW that New Delhi's efforts to strengthen its ties to both Moscow and Beijing are an attempt at balancing diverse partnerships, protecting strategic autonomy and using multilateral forums to pursue its interests amid widening geopolitical fissures. "Dissuading the Trump administration has been the most challenging and difficult task for India's diplomats. The rising engagement with China need not be seen as a response to this, but India is taking easy steps which were made difficult by its over-reliance or optimism vis-à-vis the US," said Aravind Yelery, a China expert and associate professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Harsh Pant, vice president of Studies and Foreign Policy at Observer Research Foundation, a think-tank, said India engaging with China, or Russia, or the SCO should not be seen primarily through the lens of what is happening between India and the Trump administration. "There is certainly a 'Trump factor' there, but I do not think it is the dominant one. India has always maintained its position of engaging with these countries independently of its engagement with the US," Pant told DW. "Insofar as Russia is concerned, India's relationship with Russia has been longstanding. And despite Ukraine, we did not see any attempt by India to dilute that relationship or to dismiss its partnership with Russia, though the West was at one point very annoyed with India," said Pant. This view is shared by Ajay Bisaria, a former diplomat. India's recent engagements with Russia and China were planned prior to the tariff dispute with the US, but the optics and tactics will likely be recalibrated as a response to US moves, he said. Despite the ongoing friction, Bisaria said it's in India's interest to continue pursuing smooth ties and a trade deal with the Trump administration. "However, at a point when both India's leadership and public are questioning the reliability of the US as a friend, the historical 'hesitations' will likely resurface in its dealings, influencing India's diplomatic approach."
