WebinarsNew
Deep DiveNew
Explore Business Standard
West Asia And The Gulf
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Thursday that relations between the United States and its Gulf Arab partners are rock solid, despite fears by some of them that they might be left out of discussions aimed at ending the war with Iran. Rubio used a three-day, three-nation trip to the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Bahrain this week to try to convince all the members of the Gulf Cooperation Council that the Trump administration does indeed have their backs in negotiations to end the war President Donald Trump and Israel launched on Feb. 28. That conflict sharply curtailed the region's oil exports and saw several Gulf countries take direct retaliatory Iranian missile and drone hits. "They've shared with us some very concrete concerns, ideas," Rubio said in Bahrain, the last stop on the trip. "And when I say concern, the biggest concern is that they really just want to be informed every step along the way as we enter these negotiations at both the technical and political ...
Three Indian-flagged crude oil tankers carrying over 8.6 lakh million tonnes of cargo with 94 crew members from the country transited through the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday and are en route to India, Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal said. The three crude oil tankers -- Desh Vaibhav, Desh Vibhor, and Sanmar Herald -- are expected to arrive in India between June 24 and July 1. While Desh Vaibhav is expected to reach Vadinar Port on June 24, Desh Vibhor is likely to arrive at Sikka Port the same day. Sanmar Herald, the third Indian-flagged oil tanker to cross the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday, is scheduled to reach Paradip on July 1. "3 Indian-flagged crude oil tankers, Desh Vaibhav, Desh Vibhor and Sanmar Herald carrying over 8.6 Lakh MT of cargo with 94 Indian crew members have successfully transited the Strait of Hormuz today and are en route to India," Minister of Ports, Shipping & Waterways Sonowal said in a post on X. "Under the decisive leadership of Hon'ble PM Shri ...
Despite global trade disruptions stemming from the West Asia conflict and the imposition of US tariffs, India's exports reached a record high of USD 863 billion in Financial Year 2025-26, a senior Commerce Ministry official said on Wednesday. "This has been a very difficult year, from US tariffs to West Asia crises, but despite that, we have proved that India is very resilient as far as the export ecosystem is concerned. India's total exports reached an all-time high of USD 863 billion in FY 2025-26," said Additional Secretary in the Department of Commerce, Ajay Bhadoo. Bhadoo was speaking at the Outreach Programme: 12 years of achievements and progress of SEZs of Gujarat & vision of future" in Ahmedabad. He said India's overall exports have nearly doubled from approximately USD 441 billion to USD 863 billion over the last decade, led by sectors such as engineering goods, petroleum products, electronics, pharmaceuticals, gems & jewellery, and chemicals. He added that Gujarat ..
The Indian economy is facing headwinds from external sectors with rising fuel and fertiliser import bills due to West Asia crisis, but GDP growth momentum remains intact with domestic consumption holding up, government sources said on Tuesday. Sources said the FY27 Budget had taken into cognisance the uncertainties in the global economy around tariffs, and the government do not immediately need to account for additional borrowing or bring in supplementary demands for grants in the upcoming monsoon session of Parliament. On the fiscal deficit front, sources said the budgeted target of 4.3 per cent of GDP is still intact, and the government is actively tapping its non-tax revenue areas like disinvestment and asset monetisation in the current fiscal. "DIPAM and DPE have a year-long pipeline and also a medium-term outlook of disinvestment and asset monetisation. I would hope the budgeted Rs 80,000 crore under this head exceeds BE and both the departments are working on it," a source sai
Iran stopped communicating with mediators after Israel threatened to bomb Beirut as it continues fighting the Iranian-backed Lebanese militia Hezbollah, two semiofficial Iranian news agencies reported. The reports by the Fars and Tasnim news agencies, both believed to be close to Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, come as Iran insists the fighting in Lebanon is part of the wider ceasefire talks with the United States over the war. Israel and the US maintain the fighting in Lebanon is separate from the Iran war talks. A regional official involved in the mediation, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the talks, said Iran has not communicated at all on Tuesday after saying that a ceasefire needed to be enforced in Lebanon for negotiations to continue.
Industry body STMAI has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take steps to curb rising imports of seamless pipes, particularly from China, warning that unchecked inflows are eroding domestic capacity utilisation and causing a substantial outflow of foreign exchange. The development assumes significance in the wake of Prime Minister Modi's call for energy conservation and austerity measures amid the West Asia crisis. In a representation to the Prime Minister, Seamless Tube Manufacturers' Association of India (STMAI) said India's installed seamless pipe manufacturing capacity stands at about 1.95 million tonnes per annum. However, fluctuating domestic demand and a sharp rise in imports, particularly from China and other countries, have led to sustained underutilisation of the country's manufacturing base. "Over the past several years, the Association has continuously represented these concerns before the Ministry of Steel, Ministry of Commerce, Directorate of Revenue Intelligence ...
US and Iranian negotiators have reached a tentative agreement to extend the ceasefire by 60 days and launch talks on Iran's nuclear program, according to a US official familiar with the matter. The official, who was not authorised to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity, said President Donald Trump still needs to sign off on the emerging memorandum of understanding. The tentative agreement worked out by the two sides comes at a moment when the fragile ceasefire between the US and Iran appeared to be wavering. The US military earlier on Thursday accused Iran of violating the ceasefire after Kuwait reported coming under attack following an American strike against the Islamic Republic. It was the latest flare-up of fighting to threaten ongoing negotiations to end the war. Details of the tentative agreement were first reported by the news outlet Axios.