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France 24
a day ago
- Business
- France 24
Modi and Milei meet in Argentina ahead of BRICS summit
The bilateral talks with Milei are the latest in Modi's whistle-stop diplomatic tour culminating in the summit of BRICS emerging economies starting on Sunday in Brazil. Diplomats from both countries at the meeting, which included a lunch, decided to "deepen bilateral relations and commercial ties," according to a statement from the Argentine presidency. Indian foreign ministry diplomat Periasamy Kumaran told reporters Modi "requested Argentina's support in expanding the India-Mercosur preferential trade agreement." The Mercosur regional trade bloc, comprising Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Bolivia, is seeking closer ties with Asian economies in the face of Trump's global trade war. "The two leaders discussed the necessity of diversifying and expanding bilateral trade" in sectors including defence, technology and health, said Kumaran. They also touched upon cooperation in the energy sector, including gas and petrol, as well as lithium, a key mineral for the clean energy transition. Argentina is the world's fifth largest producer of lithium, according to the US Geological Survey. "Excellent meeting with President Javier Milei of Argentina," Modi wrote on X of the leaders' second bilateral talks. "We have covered significant ground in our bilateral relations, but we agree that the journey ahead is even more promising!" India was Argentina's fifth largest trading partner in 2024, with bilateral trade up 33 percent, according to figures from the Indian external affairs ministry.
Reuters
26-06-2025
- Politics
- Reuters
India says defence gathering in China unable to adopt joint statement
NEW DELHI/BEIJING, June 26 (Reuters) - Defence ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) meeting in China were unable to adopt a joint statement at the end of their talks due to a lack of consensus on referring to "terrorism", the Indian foreign ministry said on Thursday. SCO is a 10-nation Eurasian security and political grouping whose members include China, Russia, India, Pakistan, and Iran. Their defence ministers' meeting was held as a precursor to the annual summit of its leaders set for the autumn. "Certain members, member countries, could not reach consensus on certain issues and hence the document could not be finalised on our side," Indian foreign ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal told reporters at a weekly media briefing. "India wanted concerns on terrorism reflected in the document, which was not acceptable to one particular country and therefore the statement was not adopted," he said, without naming the country. Indian media reported that New Delhi had refused to sign the document after it omitted reference to the April 22 attack on Hindu tourists in Indian Kashmir, in which 26 people were killed. India blamed Pakistan for the attack but Islamabad rejected the accusation. The attack led to the worst fighting in decades between the nuclear-armed neighbours after India struck what it called "terrorist infrastructure" in Pakistan and Pakistani Kashmir. Pakistan denied that the targets had anything to do with "terrorism" and that they were civilian facilities. The foreign ministries of China and Pakistan did not immediately respond to a request for comment on India's statement. Earlier on Thursday, when asked about the joint statement, a Chinese defence ministry spokesperson said the meeting had "achieved successful results", without elaborating. It was the first time that senior ministers from India and Pakistan had shared a stage since their clash in May.
Russia Today
19-03-2025
- Business
- Russia Today
India presses US on USAID funding
The Indian Foreign Ministry has asked the US Embassy to provide details of all expenditure on USAID-assisted or funded projects in India over the last ten years. The ministry announced that last week in the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of parliament, Times of India reported on Tuesday. As such funding comes through organizations which are 'not-for-profit', the Indian government has sought information on the entities involved in implementing USAID-backed initiatives, Minister of State for External Affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh told the newspaper. American officials have not formally responded to India's request, according to the report. While there is some open-source information available, the Indian government 'understandably expects an official response from the US Government on this matter,' said Singh. Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said last month that USAID had been allowed to operate in India 'in good faith.' However, the information 'emerging from the US administration' seemed to reveal activities 'which are in bad faith,' Jaishankar stated, commenting on data on USAID programs released by Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Jaishankar revealed that the government was looking into NGO contributions and that such organizations were obligated to declare their sources of funding, adding that 'the facts will come out.' In a related development on Tuesday, India's economic intelligence agency, the Enforcement Directorate, raided eight locations linked to USAID activities. They included the premises of a fund manager associated with the Open Society Foundations, which is controlled by US billionaire George Soros. The raids were carried out following the discovery of a money trail of about $3 million that led to various NGOs. In its 2023-24 annual report, India's Finance Ministry revealed that USAID was funding seven projects in India, with a total investment of $750 million. In the most recent fiscal year, USAID had allocated $97 million to these projects, which are being implemented in partnership with the Indian government and span multiple sectors, including agriculture, water and sanitation, renewable energy, disaster management, and health.
