&w=3840&q=100)
FM Sitharaman discusses bilateral ties with Russian, Chinese counterparts
These meetings were held on the sidelines of the BRICS Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting in Rio de Janeiro.
During a meeting with Anton Siluanov, Finance Minister of Russia, Sitharaman expressed gratitude for the support extended by President Vladimir Putin after the Pahalgam terror attack, the finance ministry said in a post on X.
The two leaders discussed India-Russia long-standing partnership.
The finance minister observed that India and Russia enjoy exemplary levels of mutual trust and understanding and our Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership remains resilient and steadfast, it said.
The two sides also discussed issues of bilateral cooperation, including cooperation in the financial sector, along with matters related to NDB.
In another bilateral meeting with her Chinese counterpart Lan Fo'an, both leaders discussed strengthening collaboration across a wide range of areas due to the common rich human capital, deep civilisational ties, and expanding economic influence.
The two leaders recalled their last meeting in Samarkand in September 2024 on the sidelines of the AIIB Annual Meetings, another post by the finance ministry said.
Sitharaman underlined that India and China are uniquely positioned to drive inclusive global growth and innovation as the two nations are the largest and fastest-growing economies in the world.
The finance minister suggested that deeper engagement between the two countries can help amplify the voice of developing economies, and shape global narratives that reflect the priorities and aspirations of the global South, it said.
During bilateral meeting with Thomas Djiwandono, Vice Finance Minister of Indonesia, Sitharaman said India looks forward to hosting the Indonesia Economic and Financial Dialogue soon.
She also thanked Indonesia for their support in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack, a separate post on X by the finance ministry said.
The two leaders also discussed BRICS, UPI, and RuPay, G20, MDB Reforms, bilateral trade, tourism, FinTech and financial markets, it said.
In the bilateral meeting with Finance Minister of Brazil Fernando Haddad, she discussed issues of bilateral interests.
The two leaders discussed issues of mutual interest, including South-South cooperation, amplifying the voice of the Global South, COP30, and climate finance issues, and engagement in regional and global forums such as the United Nations, G20, BRICS, WTO and IBSA, the finance ministry said in another social media post.
Appreciating the deep work by Brazil during its BRICS Chairship, including commitment to a multipolar world order, and expansion of BRICS, Sitharaman said India supports the agenda and priorities set by Brazil, and hopes to carry forward the outcome-oriented cooperation when India takes over the Chairship in January 2026.
She said India and Brazil, as strategic partners, share warm and cordial ties spanning across multiple sectors, and are cooperating closely in multiple sectors to further strengthen strategic partnership.
(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Hindu
15 minutes ago
- The Hindu
Why is Trump taking aim at BRICS?
The story so far: U.S. President Donald Trump's threat to impose 10% tariffs on members of the BRICS grouping that held a summit in Rio de Janeiro this week is the latest in a series of similar threats. Why is BRICS in Mr. Trump's cross-hairs? Even before he was sworn in as U.S. President for the second time, Donald Trump had made it clear that he saw the BRICS grouping as 'anti-American' and a threat to the dollar that he needed to neutralise. On November 30 last year, Mr. Trump said the U.S. would require BRICS members to commit that they would not create a new BRICS common currency, 'nor back any other currency to replace the mighty U.S. dollar', threatening 100% tariffs on them. It's a threat he has repeated several times since. Mr. Trump's irritation appears to stem from BRICS declarations in South Africa in 2023 and Russia in 2024, where members that now also include Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran and the UAE, discussed a BRICS Cross-Border Payments Initiative that aims to facilitate trade and investment within BRICS countries using local currencies and other mechanisms. The initiative built momentum due to the problems Western sanctions on Russia have meant for trading partners in the Global South. What has the U.S. threatened to do? Last Sunday (July 6, 2025), just as BRICS leaders gathered in Rio for the 17th BRICS summit, Mr. Trump said in a social media post that any country aligning with BRICS would face a 10% added tariff. The penalty was 'just for that one thing' of being a member, Mr. Trump said later. It is unclear why the tariff rate was dropped to a tenth from the original threat of 100%, and even whether Mr. Trump will go through with the BRICS tariffs along with other reciprocal tariffs planned for August 1. But there seems little doubt that Mr. Trump wants BRICS de-fanged. 'You can tell the (U.S.) President is (upset) every time he looks at the BRICS de-dollarisation effort…(and) Rio didn't help,' said Steve Bannon, Trump's former White House chief strategist, according to Politico magazine. Editorial | Building resilience: On the 17th Summit of BRICS emerging economies In addition, the Trump administration has slapped 50% tariffs on Brazil after accusing President Lula da Silva of a 'witch-hunt' against former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who faces charges of attempted coup. It has also imposed 30% tariffs on South Africa after accusing it of unequal trade, as well as expressing concerns over the treatment of Afrikaners (White South Africans). Republican Senators close to Mr. Trump also plan to bring a bill called the Sanctioning Russia Act of 2025 that seeks to place 500% tariffs on imports of oil and sanctioned Russian products, which would hurt Russia, as well as India and China, its two biggest importers. Are Mr. Trump's concerns valid? Mr. Trump's concerns about de-dollarisation have been denied by practically every BRICS member. The South African Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a detailed statement explaining why the BRICS attempt to use national currencies within the grouping is not the same as replacing the dollar as the global standard. While anti-U.S. rhetoric of some BRICS leaders has been harsh, the wording of the BRICS Rio declaration 2025 issued this week does not directly challenge the U.S. or the dollar. In the operative Paragraph 50, the leaders said they resolved to task ministers of finance and central bank governors 'to continue the discussion on the BRICS Cross-Border Payments Initiative and acknowledge the progress made by the BRICS Payment Task Force (BPTF) in identifying possible pathways to support the continuation of discussions on the potential for greater interoperability of BRICS payment systems.' Paragraph 13 expressed 'serious concerns' over the rise of unilateral tariff and non-tariff measures but didn't name the U.S. Where does India stand? The Modi government, hopeful of clinching a Free Trade Agreement with the U.S., has strenuously objected to Mr. Trump's categorisation of the BRICS as 'anti-American'. Also read: India will give a 'new form' to BRICS grouping in 2026: PM Modi In a parliamentary response on December 2, 2024, the MoS (Finance) Pankaj Chaudhury made it clear that the U.S. allegations referred to a report prepared by Russia during its chairmanship of BRICS, where it had spoken of 'possible alternatives relating to cross-border payments' and 'leveraging existing technology to find an alternative currency'. He added that the report was only 'taken note of' by other BRICS members, not adopted. In March 2025, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar was more categorical, saying there is no Indian policy to replace the dollar. He conceded, however, that BRICS members had differences, and there was no unified position of the grouping on the issue.
Time of India
36 minutes ago
- Time of India
Sex scandal rocks Kremlin: Putin aide flew 23-year-old lover around Russia on lavish military aircraft
There has been an alleged top-level sex scandal in Moscow after a 23-year-old woman openly posted that she was flown on a Russian military plane , usually reserved for high-ranking officials, to see a restricted military airbase in southern Russia, as per a report. The posts, which have since been removed, have led to various speculations. Weekend Getaway or State-Sponsored Favour? Maria Shalaeva , a young woman from Yekaterinburg, surprised social media users when she casually shared photos and stories of flying aboard a Defense Ministry Ilyushin-76 military jet for what she called a "weekend getaway" to Rostov-on-Don, as per The Sun report. Her trip wasn't just luxury, it was exclusive, because the airport she flew to is reportedly shut off to all but military aircraft, according to the report. ALSO READ: Stellar comeback: After a lost decade and near bankruptcy in the 2010s, Greece set to become debt-free by 2029 Who Is the Mysterious 'Kremlin Man'? The trip wasn't diplomatic or commercial, it was for personal use, as Shalaeva suggested that her lover was a "Kremlin man," powerful enough to orchestrate a private military flight and treat her to appointments like a city manicure, as per The Sun. The 23-year-old had posted asking, 'Who's saying planes don't fly to Rostov?" and then pointed out that, 'They do - just not all of them, and not for everyone. Anyway, I flew back to Rostov again. Can't seem to let it go,' as quoted by The Sun. Live Events She even revealed that her lover is 'a Kremlin man, though, that's another story. Reliability level is 200%,' as quoted in the report. According to an independent media outlet, Russian president Vladimir Putin's trusted defence minister, Andrei Belousov , is suspected to be her lover, reported The Sun. The speculation arose as Belousov is known to be a known womaniser from earlier email leaks, and his photograph appears in a video she posted, and in one video her lover has grey hair, and so does Belousov, who was a Kremlin apparatchik before becoming defence minister, as reported by The Sun. The Sun's military sources pointed out that the Kremlin's 'sugar daddy' had been visited at work by the secret services after the mistress's revelations, as per the report. ALSO READ: Jeff Bezos shocks the internet with surprise hair comeback after a decade of baldness Speculation Swirls About Child's Paternity While, Shalaeva even shared that she brought her three-year-old son, Tim, on the trip, which led to speculation that the kid is her lover's offspring, reported The Sun. She had posted, 'At three years old, he's already flown in a military aircraft,' as per the report. She said, 'Tim got to sit right in the cockpit and even grabbed some crisps from the pilot," adding, 'We were greeted warmly. Timmy was chilling, watching cartoons the whole ride,' as quoted by The Sun report. No Confirmation, But Just Speculations The mistress even gave a hint, saying that her lover was 'not military!! Not FSB either! Now, I know who he is, but I'm not allowed to say,' as quoted in the report. According to the report, Belousov is an economist and civilian technocrat but is not a career soldier and holds no formal military rank, yet his authority rivals that of Russia's top generals. Andrei Belousov's Reputation Under the Spotlight While Nexta independent media claimed in its report that, 'In private posts, Shalaeva hints that it's Belousov himself, the new defence minister of the Russian Federation [who is her lover],' adding, 'The Minister of Defence of the Russian Federation flies his mistress on a military plane,' as quoted in The Sun report. FAQs Who is Maria Shalaeva? She's a 23-year-old woman from Yekaterinburg who posted about being flown on a Russian military jet, sparking the current scandal, as per The Sun report. Why is Andrei Belousov suspected? He's a high-ranking civilian official with the power to arrange such flights, matches the physical description, and reportedly appears in one of her videos.
Deccan Herald
36 minutes ago
- Deccan Herald
When an opaque Election Commission demands voter transparency
In 1766, Sweden enacted the world's first law recognising a people's right to access information from their government. Interestingly, its advocates employed a tailored image of governance mechanisms in Imperial China to support their campaign for a law that guaranteed the freedom of the press to report on governmental actions and curbed State censorship of public debate. Citing the Peking Gazette, whose origins can be traced to the Tang Dynasty's regime, they argued that it was the vehicle for communicating information about governmental action to the people and conveying their feedback to the Emperor – characteristic features of transparent and accountable academics have exposed this propagandist, though noble-intentioned, portrayal of pre-Communist China's administrative practices. Information flows from the capital to the populace were strictly controlled by a conservative bureaucracy, and commenting on the Peking Gazette's contents invited corporal punishment or even the death penalty. While eulogising the Chinese model in support of their democratising aspirations, Sweden's transparency champions had turned a blind eye towards the highly centralised and control-obsessed administration's efforts to gather more information about subjects of the recent order of our own Election Commission of India (ECI) requiring every voter in Bihar to prove one's place and date of birth as a bona fide Indian citizen by furnishing documentary evidence, or risk disenfranchisement, smacks of similar imperiousness. Yet, after 20 years of implementing the RTI Act, which emphasises records maintenance, the ECI has shockingly claimed that it is unable to produce a copy of a similar order for the intensive revision of voter lists in Bihar issued in 2003. While the ballot has been digitised, old paper-based files containing a record of the ECI's work seem to have escaped that destiny. Two years ago, its staff told me, a lot of information sent from the states and the districts about recent elections, simply cannot be traced in the multi-storeyed Nirvachan readers dismiss my words as hearsay, here is a sample of election-related records which the ECI claimed, in RTI replies, it does not hold or never received from the states relating to the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. When asked for the complete list of Returning Officers (ROs) of the constituencies (as they are not displayed on the website), the ECI replied nonchalantly that no such list is available with it and refused to transfer the request to the states and the UTs!.In response to my RTI application seeking a list of expenditure-sensitive Lok Sabha constituencies that must be monitored more closely for campaign spending, the ECI replied that it does not have a readily available list and compiling it would disproportionately divert its resources. It also rejected a proactive disclosure of the expenditure observers' quizzed about the suspicious transaction reports (STRs) received from banks that are required to monitor large-sized monetary transactions during the campaign, the ECI claimed that no such information is available with it. Refusing to disclose even the number of STRs it received, ECI instructed me to approach the district election officers asked for a copy of the reports ROs send after scrutinising all documents created during polling, the ECI replied that the records sought do not even fall within the definition of 'information' under the RTI Act! In the wake of the controversy about voter turnout figures in Maharashtra last year, the ECI told me, in writing, that it does not have information about the number of voters who were issued pre-numbered tokens to cast their vote after 5 pm even though its election manual requires ROs to submit such reports through their Chief Electoral asked to publish reports sent by the states after mapping Lok Sabha constituencies, or pockets within them, where voters are vulnerable to intimidation and illegal inducement, the ECI claimed that it does not have such information in its records. This lie stands exposed. An RTI activist successfully obtained these vulnerability mapping reports from Maharashtra's Chief Electoral Officer. They were dispatched to the ECI on March 27, 2024!.Much like the no-data-available governments holding fort across the country, the ECI is turning crucial election-related information into sarkari secrets, especially that which is required to establish its accountability. The citizen-State relationship envisioned by the Constitution to guarantee the dignity of every individual is in danger of becoming a master-servant fetter. Bihar seems to be the laboratory for an iniquitous experiment that might soon be repeated across the country.
