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India and Chile have agreed to boost cooperation in trade, investment, health and pharmaceuticals, science and technology and other sectors. Minister of State for External Affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh visited Chile from March 10-12, and represented the Government of India at the inauguration ceremony of new President of Chile, Jose Antonio Kast Rist, the Ministry of External Affairs said on Thursday. During the visit, Singh held a bilateral meeting with President Kast, and also interacted with outgoing president, Gabriel Boric Font. "During these meetings, the two sides agreed to further strengthen cooperation in key areas including trade, investment, health and pharmaceuticals, traditional medicines, science and technology, mining and mineral exploration, education, space, agriculture and people to people exchanges," the MEA said in a statement. The two sides also expressed satisfaction at the progress in the ongoing negotiations for a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement .
The Karnataka government has requested the Ministry of External Affairs to extend all necessary assistance, coordinate with local law enforcement, and provide support to the family of a 22-year-old Indian postgraduate student who has gone missing in the US state of California. Saketh Sreenivasaiah, a student at the University of California, Berkeley, hailing from Karnataka, has been reported missing in Berkeley, California, since the morning of February 12, it said. In a letter to Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, Karnataka Chief Secretary Shalini Rajneesh said Saketh is currently enrolled in the Master of Science program at the University of California, Berkeley. According to information received from his family and housemates, his whereabouts remain unknown despite a formal complaint being lodged with the Berkeley Police Department, the letter dated February 13 stated. Given the gravity of the situation and the mounting anxiety of his family residing in the state, she requested the
India on Friday said it is closely following developments relating to a proposed American legislation that seeks to impose up to 500 per cent tariff on countries procuring Russian crude oil. India and China are among a handful of countries which are procuring a significant volume of crude oil from Russia. US Senator Lindsey Graham, the author of the bill, said this week that President Donald Trump has green-lighted the proposed legislation. "We are aware of the proposed bill. We are closely following the developments," External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said at his weekly media briefing here. "Our position on the larger question of energy sourcing is well known." "In this endeavour, we are guided by the evolving dynamics of the global market and by the imperative to secure affordable energy from diverse sources to meet the energy security needs of our 1.4 billion people," he said.
India on Monday said Pakistan's "horrific and systemic victimisation" of minorities of various faiths is a well established fact and no amount of "finger pointing" will "obfuscate" it. New Delhi said this while strongly trashing Pakistan's comments on the condition of minorities in India. "We reject the reported remarks from a country whose abysmal record on this front speaks for itself," external affairs ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said. "Pakistan's horrific and systemic victimisation of minorities of various faiths is a well established fact. No amount of finger pointing will obfuscate it," he said. In Islamabad, Pakistan foreign office spokesperson Tahir Andrabi, responding to media queries on alleged vandalism during Christmas celebrations in some places in India, said "persecution of minorities in India is a matter of deep concern". Andrabi referred to what he called "recent condemnable incidents" of vandalism during Christmas, as well as campaigns allegedly targeti
Five Indian nationals were abducted in Mali last week in an "unfortunate incident", the Indian mission here has said. The kidnapping took place on November 6 in the West African nation, the Indian embassy said in an X post on Sunday. "The Embassy is aware of the unfortunate incident of kidnapping of five of our nationals in Mali on 6 Nov 2025," it said. The embassy has been "working closely with the authorities and the company concerned to secure their safe release as quickly as possible," it added.