International Relations
Bilateral ties, multilateral forums, treaties and India's foreign policy
Indus Water Treaty: Obstruction, exploitation and the long-overdue reckoning
India placed the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) in abeyance following the April 2025 Pahalgam terror attack, citing Pakistan's continued support for cross-border ...
India-ASEAN to update trade pact by year end; UPI, Vietnam’s payment system to be linked, says PM Modi
India and ASEAN agreed to complete the review of the ASEAN–India Trade in Goods Agreement (AITIGA) by the end of 2026, addressing India's long-standing conce...
India's exports hit record $863 bn in 2025-26, driven by services surge
India's total exports (merchandise and services combined) reached an all-time high of USD 863.11 billion in FY 2025-26, up from USD 825.26 billion in FY 2024...
India, Vietnam review defence ties; push for deeper maritime, industrial cooperation
India and Vietnam upgraded their bilateral relationship to an "Enhanced Comprehensive Strategic Partnership" during the visit of Vietnamese President To Lam ...
India, Vietnam set $25 billion bilateral trade target by 2030
India and Vietnam set a bilateral trade target of USD 25 billion by 2030, from the current USD 16 billion. IREL (India) Limited and Vietnam's Institute for T...
‘Make in India’ gets a radar lock, India-Israel joint venture plant breaks ground in Tamil Nadu
ELTX Systems Pvt. Ltd. — a joint venture between India's DCX Systems Ltd. (Bengaluru) and ELTA Systems (a subsidiary of Israel Aerospace Industries, IAI) — b...
India ramps up Venezuela oil buys to diversify from Gulf supply, but Russian crude still mainstay
India sharply increased imports of Venezuelan crude in April 2026, with inflows reaching approximately 283 thousand barrels per day (kbd) — a multi-year high...
Trump pauses Hormuz operation; says war will end if Iran agrees to deal
The United States paused "Project Freedom" — a military operation to escort stranded commercial vessels out of the Strait of Hormuz — just one day after the ...
Iran enforces new ‘sovereign’ transit rules in Strait of Hormuz, mandates prior permits for vessels
Iran activated a new "sovereign governance system" for the Strait of Hormuz, requiring all commercial vessels to obtain prior transit permits through the Per...
North Korea revises Constitution to drop references to unification of Korean Peninsula
North Korea's Supreme People's Assembly formally revised the national constitution to remove all references to the "peaceful reunification" of the Korean Pen...
Vietnam President To Lam accorded ceremonial welcome at Rashtrapati Bhavan on his maiden visit to India
Vietnamese President To Lam was accorded a ceremonial welcome at Rashtrapati Bhavan on May 6, 2026, marking his first state visit to India since assuming off...
India-Vietnam in talks over BrahMos, maintenance & repair of defence platforms as ties elevated
During bilateral talks with Vietnamese President To Lam, India offered to provide maintenance and repair (MRO) services for Vietnam's Sukhoi Su-30 fighter ai...
The Op Sindoor lessons—not just how to fight wars, but also how not to
Operation Sindoor, a 88-hour armed conflict between India and Pakistan in May 2025, is being analysed as a watershed moment in South Asian security that fund...
Iran-Israel war LIVE: Trump threatens Iran with ‘higher level’ bombing if it doesn't reopen Strait of Hormuz
The US-Israel conflict with Iran, which began on 28 February 2026 (Operation Epic Fury), has resulted in the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, block...
India to host first Big Cat Summit in June
India will host the inaugural summit of the International Big Cat Alliance (IBCA) in New Delhi on June 1–2, 2026, with representatives from 95 countries expe...
India, Japan sign agreements in quantum technology, health research cooperation
India and Japan exchanged two agreements during a high-level bilateral meeting in New Delhi on May 6, 2026: a Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) in health and m...
As warming and deforestation intensify, the Amazon could begin driving its own collapse, study warns
A study published in Nature (May 2026) by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research warns that the Amazon rainforest could approach ecological collap...
India, US 'very close' to trade deal, need to get over last hurdle, Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau says
The US Deputy Secretary of State stated that India and the United States are "very, very close" to signing a trade deal, with only a "last hurdle" remaining ...
Strait of Hormuz technically open, but not operating: National shipowners' body head
The head of the national shipowners' association described the Strait of Hormuz as "technically open but not operating," reflecting the paradox of a passage ...
Goods, services exports up 4.59 pc to USD 863.11 bn in FY26
India's combined goods and services exports rose 4.59% to an all-time high of USD 863.11 billion in FY2025–26, up from USD 825.26 billion in FY2024–25, accor...