Page 18 - India

Finland's President Stubb, PM Modi discuss India-EU trade and tech ties

Finland's President Alexander Stubb on Tuesday reiterated his country's support for an early conclusion of a mutually beneficial India-EU Free Trade Agreement in a phone call to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. A PMO statement said the two leaders also reviewed progress in the India-Finland bilateral relationship and reaffirmed their commitment to enhance partnership in emerging fields, including quantum technologies, 6G, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and sustainability. Stubb affirmed support for the success of the AI Impact Summit to be hosted by India in 2026, it added. The statement said Stubb shared his assessment with Modi on the recent meetings held between the leaders of Europe, the United States and Ukraine in Washington on the resolution of the conflict in Ukraine. Modi reiterated India's consistent support for the peaceful resolution of the conflict and early restoration of peace and stability, it added.

US tariffs a wake-up call for India to push bold reforms: Amitabh Kant

India should view US tariffs as a wake-up call to implement bold and once-in-a-generation reforms and diversify its export markets for long-term growth, former Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant said on Wednesday. Addressing the BN Memorial Lecture organised by IRS (C&IT) Association, Kant said, "This is India's century, irrespective of Trump's tariff, I strongly believe that Trump has given us a huge opportunity for reforms". On the US excuse of Russian oil imports for tariff hike, Kant said, "It's not about Russian oil. If it were the issue, then China buys much more Russian oil and Turkey buys as much Russian oil". The former G-20 Sherpa also talked about disruption in the global supply chain and India's need to improve administrative efficiency for the rapid expansion of production infrastructure. "Trump's tariffs must be a wake-up call for India. The irony is striking: the U.S. is actively negotiating with Russia and China, the latter being the largest buyer of Russian oil, yet ...

India-Africa trade surpassed $100 bn in 2024-25: MoS Kirti Vardhan Singh

Union minister Kirti Vardhan Singh on Wednesday said India-Africa trade has crossed USD 100 billion and New Delhi has emerged as one of the top-five investors in the continent. Addressing the inaugural session of the 20th CII India-Africa Business Conclave in the national capital, Singh said India has extended concessional loans worth over USD 12 billion and USD 700 million in grant assistance for projects across Africa, apart from offering 50,000 scholarships for African youth, of which more than 42,000 have already been utilised. "This year's theme is different as we have decided to move from project partnership and growth partnership to the spirit of 'Co-creating a Shared Future', which signifies the sentiment attached to this remarkable journey," the minister said. "India's bilateral trade with Africa has crossed the magical figure of USD 100 billion in 2024-25 compared to USD 56 billion in 2019-2020. With cumulative investments over USD 75 billion from 1996-2024, India is among

Fiji PM Rabuka visits UIDAI's Delhi headquarter to strengthen digital ties

Prime Minister of Fiji Sitiveni Ligamamada Rabuka on Tuesday visited the head office of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) in New Delhi, accompanied by a high-level delegation. The visit reflects the growing collaboration between India and Fiji in the field of digital transformation, including cooperation in development of innovative digital transformational solutions. It also underlines India's commitment to sharing its expertise in digital public infrastructure with global partners, an official release said. During the visit to UIDAI headquarters in Delhi, the Prime Minister of Fiji was briefed on India's pioneering digital identity system that forms the foundational layer of India digital public infrastructure, an official release said. He was welcomed by the Chief Executive Officer of UIDAI Bhuvnesh Kumar, and senior officials of the Ministry of External Affairs and Ministry of Electronics and IT. Deputy Director General of UIDAI Vivek Chandra Verma, and ...

Why India, UK, Denmark are suspending postal shipments to the US

US President Donald Trump issued an executive order scrapping the trade exemption known as 'de minimis', which had permitted goods valued at up to $800 to enter the US without duty

India engages second US lobbying firm ahead of 50% export tariff hike

The move follows concerns that India was outpaced by Pakistan in influence over US policy and criticism over its continued purchase of discounted Russian crude oil

Nikki Haley urges India to take Trump's view on Russian oil seriously

India should take President Donald Trump's concerns over its procurement of Russian crude oil seriously and work with the White House to find a solution to the issue, Republican leader Nikki Haley has said. The Trump administration has been severely critical of India for its procurement of discounted crude oil from Russia. Interestingly, Washington has not been criticising China, the largest importer of Russian crude oil. Defending its purchase of Russian crude oil, India has been maintaining that its energy procurement is driven by national interest and market dynamics. Haley, the Indian-origin Republican leader, on Saturday posted on 'X' a portion of an opinion piece she wrote in the Newsweek four days back. The former South Carolina governor's social media post urging New Delhi to take President Trump's concerns over the Russian crude oil seriously came after she faced criticism within her party following the opinion piece. In the article, Haley argued that India must be treate

Snowflake ramps up India investments, targets growth across sectors: MD

AI data cloud firm Snowflake views India as a "land of opportunities" for data and AI, and is significantly increasing its investments in the country to tap into its massive potential, a top company official has said. The company is strategically expanding its presence and capabilities, aiming to grow its headcount to over 700 employees by the end of 2025. "Snowflake is doubling down on India as an investment destination. As a destination where we are heavily invested to make sure that we serve the Indian market, we serve global customers from India, and we also invest in the country in terms of AI and skill sets out there. "If you look at the world of data in India, we have a lot of headroom to expand, not only Snowflake, but most players in this space, there's a massive headroom to expand," Vijayant Rai, India MD of Snowflake, told PTI. The company has recently opened a new office in Mumbai and plans to expand its presence in Bengaluru by August 2025. These expansions will suppo

Govt commits 97% of chip manufacturing fund, scope for new projects

The government has committed around Rs 62,900 crore, or 97 per cent, of the Rs 65,000 crore fund earmarked as incentives for semiconductor production in the country, a top official said on Friday. While briefing on the Semicon India 2025 event, Electronics and IT Secretary S Krishnan said the funds left can accommodate only small projects. He said that under the Rs 76,000 crore India Semiconductor Mission, Rs 65,000 crore was allocated for chip production, Rs 10,000 crore for the modernisation of the Semiconductor Laboratory in Mohali and Rs 1,000 crore for the design-linked incentive scheme. "Out of this Rs 65,000 crore, I think we have committed close to Rs 62,900 crore or so already. We have limited funding, which we have available; we might be able to just accommodate two or three small projects," Krishnan said. Talking about the Semicon India event, he said that the three-day event will be held from September 2-4 at Yashobhoomi in the national capital, which is expected to be

WHO-WMO warn extreme heat threatens workers' health and global productivity

Analysing evidence from studies from past five decades that 'have provided conclusive evidence that workplace heat stress directly threatens workers' ability to live healthy and productive lives'

PM Modi, Prez Putin among 20 world leaders to attend SCO summit: China

China on Friday said the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit to be held in Tianjin later this month will be the largest in the bloc's history, with 20 world leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, attending it. The Tianjin meeting of the 10-member grouping from Aug 31-Sept 1 is the fifth summit being hosted by China. It will be the largest in SCO history, China's Assistant Foreign Minister Liu Bin told a media briefing here. Besides Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, the summit will be attended by PM Modi and a host of world leaders, Liu said. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, his Indonesian counterpart Prabowo Subianto, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh are other prominent leaders to attend the summit, he said. From the subcontinent, Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif, Nepal's Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli and Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu will attend the summit, Liu ...

72% of employers plan workforce expansion via new job creation: Report

India's white-collar job market is likely to witness a surge in the latter half of 2025, with nearly 72 per cent of employers interviewed planning workforce expansion through net new job creation, a report said on Friday. According to Naukri's bi-annual 'Hiring Outlook' report, the white-collar job market is expected to maintain strong hiring momentum, with 94 per cent of employers planning to hire during the second half of the current fiscal. The report is based on input from 1,300 employers across the sectors in India. Among these employers, nearly three-quarters (72 per cent) indicated they expect new job creation, the report said. Even as there is an ongoing buzz around job losses due to artificial intelligence (AI), 87 per cent of employers do not foresee any significant impact on overall employment. Instead, it revealed that 13 per cent of them expect AI to act as a catalyst for job creation, particularly in emerging roles. Sectors most likely to benefit include IT (42 per

India energy giants back nuclear power to boost clean electricity output

Atomic power is witnessing a revival globally due to its ability to deliver low-emissions energy

Indian envoy, US lawmakers discuss trade, energy security amid tariff row

Indian envoy Vinay Mohan Kwatra on Friday discussed mutually beneficial trade engagement and energy security with US lawmakers amid tariff tensions between Washington and New Delhi. The Indian ambassador met Senator Bill Hagerty and thanked him for consistent and strong support to the India-US partnership. Briefed him on continuing bilateral discussions for fair, balanced and mutually beneficial trade engagement, the Indian envoy posted on social media. He also shared perspectives on India's energy security and the growing trade between India and the US in hydrocarbons with Senator Hagerty. Kwatra also held a productive conversation with Congressman Greg Landsman and briefed him on developments in bilateral trade engagement. Briefed him on recent developments in bilateral trade engagement and energy security, and the growing hydrocarbon partnership between our countries, he posted on social media. Earlier, Kwatra met with Rep Josh Gottheimer, Ranking Member of the National Securi

India leads global malware attacks as AI fuels ransomware surge: Acronis

India has emerged as the most-targeted nation for malware attacks, topping global charts, with Artificial Intelligence (AI) fuelling a surge in ransomware, a new report by cybersecurity firm Acronis has said. The biannual report covers the global threat landscape as encountered by the Acronis Threat Research Unit (TRU) and Acronis sensors on Windows endpoints from January through June 2025. Based on signals from over one million unique endpoints distributed around the world, the report also incorporates statistics focused on threats targeting Windows operating systems, given their prevalence as compared to macOS and Linux. India emerged as the most targeted country globally, with 12.4 per cent of monitored endpoints affected, highlighting the nation's growing vulnerability to sophisticated threats such as AI-powered phishing and impersonation attacks, according to Acronis. "Ransomware remains the major threat for large and medium-sized businesses, with new groups increasingly ...

Kyndryl to invest $2.25 billion in India over the next three years

As part of the investment, the company will also establish an AI lab in the country, in addition to focusing on talent development

China opposes US plan to impose up to 50% tariffs on India: Amb. Feihong

China fully opposes the US move of imposing tariffs of up to 50 per cent on India and Washington's threat to increase it, Chinese envoy Xu Feihong said here on Thursday. In his address at an event here, Feihong also said that tariff and trade "wars" were disrupting the global economic and trade system. The Chinese envoy's remark assumes significance as it comes amid a thaw in Sino-India ties. India and China on Tuesday unveiled a series of measures for a "stable, cooperative and forward-looking" relationship that included jointly maintaining peace along the frontier, reopening border trade, promoting investment flows, and resuming direct flight connectivity at the earliest. The announcements aimed at realising the "full" development potential of the two Asian giants came amid growing estrangement in ties between India and the US over President Donald Trump's policies on trade and tariffs. India and China listed the measures in a joint document after Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Y

Yakult sees India becoming one of its top 10 global markets in future

Japanese probiotic fermented milk major Yakult is betting on the potential of India, which it believes could break into its top ten global markets in the future, driven by a growing middle class, a senior company official said on Thursday. The company, which operates in India as a 50:50 joint venture between Yakult Honsha, Japan, and Groupe Danone, France -- two global probiotic leaders, is seeking to expand in the mass segment and has roped in Bollywood Actor Taapsee Pannu, as its new brand ambassador. "The growth (expectation in India) is double-digit growth for this year and the next year also," Yakult Danone India Pvt Ltd Managing Director Eiji Amano told PTI here. On the road ahead for the company in India, he said the target would be to achieve double-digit growth every year until 2030, reflecting the growing demand for probiotics and the confidence it has in the Indian market. After the COVID-19 pandemic, Yakult has witnessed accelerated growth, he said, adding that the ...

India will respond decisively whenever terrorism threatens citizens: Govt

Anticipating future warfare scenarios through "predictive technologies" and creating precise, targeted systems for counter-action are among the three-fold goals when it comes to India's futuristic defence programme, Sudarshan Chakra Mission, the government said on Wednesday. In a broad synopsis of the country's security scenario, the Press Information Bureau (PIB) on Wednesday shared some data and a summary of various defence-related developments in the past 11 years, titled 'Transformation of India's Defence and Internal Security Posture'. "Unlike in the past, India under the present government has become a global force to reckon with, a nation that speaks on issues from a position of strength," it says. The government said India has adopted a "firm and clear approach towards cross-border terrorism", adding that the pattern of action over the last decade reflects this policy. The most recent and defining operation came in May 2025 with Operation Sindoor. In response to the killing

India, Saudi Arabia set up joint group to boost maritime cooperation

India and Saudi Arabia have agreed to deepen bilateral maritime relations, an official statement said on Wednesday. Both countries have formed a Joint Working Group (JWG) on maritime cooperation in the shipping and logistics sectors, marking a new chapter in the strategic partnership, the statement said. This decision was taken during a high-level virtual meeting between Union Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal and Saudi Arabia's Minister of Transport and Logistic Services Saleh bin Nasser Al-Jasser. According to the statement, Sonowal underscored the historic and growing relationship between the two nations. India and Saudi Arabia share centuries-old economic and socio-cultural ties, he said. The establishment of the strategic partnership council, co-chaired by the leaders of both countries, has elevated bilateral cooperation to new heights. Sonowal pointed to recent developments, including the launch of the JeddahMundra/Nhava Sheva route by Saudi Arabia