International Relations
Bilateral ties, multilateral forums, treaties and India's foreign policy
Death toll in attack on Kyiv apartment building rises to 24
A cruise missile struck a nine-storey corner apartment block in Kyiv on 14 May 2026, causing the building to partially collapse and killing 24 people includi...
Israeli strikes wound dozens in Lebanon as talks in U.S. enter second day
Despite a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon brokered by the United States (initially agreed April 16, 2026; extended on April 23 for three weeks; and exte...
Govt imposes export duty on petrol, cuts levy on diesel, jet fuel exports
The government revised export levies on petroleum products effective May 16, 2026: a Special Additional Excise Duty (SAED) of ₹3 per litre was imposed on pet...
Steel safeguard measure hits India-UK trade pact rollout
India and the UK concluded a Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) in July 2025 after 14 rounds of negotiations spanning three years; implementat...
Sri Lanka civil war: 17 years later, the imprints remain
18 May 2026 marks 17 years since the end of Sri Lanka's three-decade civil war, when the Sri Lankan Armed Forces defeated the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eela...
Energy to defence, India, UAE deepen ties as PM Modi calls for open Hormuz
During a state visit to the UAE, India and the UAE signed multiple agreements covering energy supply, strategic petroleum reserves, defence, and maritime inf...
India issues chair statement after BRICS meeting amid ‘differing views’ over West Asia conflict
Following the May 14–15, 2026 BRICS Foreign Ministers' Meeting in New Delhi, India as chair issued a "Chair's Statement and outcome document" covering 63 poi...
Chabahar a golden gateway, hope India continues to develop it: Iran FM Araghchi
Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi, on the sidelines of the BRICS Foreign Ministers Meeting in New Delhi (May 15, 2026), called Chabahar Port a "g...
PM Modi’s Europe trip begins today: What India hopes to gain from better ties with Nordic countries
The 3rd India-Nordic Summit was held in Oslo, Norway, marking the first visit by an Indian Prime Minister to Norway in 43 years (since Indira Gandhi in 1983)...
India’s push for energy conservation is a refusal to be ‘extorted’ for Hormuz passage: govt sources
Amid a disruption to the Strait of Hormuz passage for tanker traffic, government sources described India's domestic energy conservation push as a refusal to ...
BRICS Foreign Ministers: No joint statement amid differing views on West Asia
The two-day BRICS Foreign Ministers' Meeting held in New Delhi (May 14–15, 2026) — the first major ministerial engagement under India's 2026 BRICS chairmansh...
BRICS ministers fail to issue a joint statement over differences on West Asia conflict
The two-day BRICS Foreign Ministers' Meeting held in New Delhi on May 14–15, 2026 under India's 2026 chairship concluded without a joint communiqué. Differen...
‘We condemn attacks on UAE’, says PM Modi, signs defence cooperation pact
During a brief Abu Dhabi stopover on May 15, 2026, India and the UAE signed a defence cooperation framework agreement and an MoU on strategic petroleum reser...
India-U.K. trade deal hits late-stage ‘sticking points’ just before implementation date
The India-UK Free Trade Agreement (FTA), signed on July 24, 2025, has encountered late-stage "sticking points" just before its planned implementation date. T...
India can play ‘greater role’ for peace in West Asia, says Iranian Foreign Minister Araghchi
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrived in India for a three-day visit (May 13–15, 2026) to attend the BRICS Foreign Ministers' Meeting. Araghchi hel...
PM Modi’s quick dash to UAE fetches agreements on defence, LPG & strategic petroleum reserves
A brief, last-minute stopover in Abu Dhabi on May 15, 2026 (approximately three hours) yielded three significant agreements between India and the UAE: a Stra...
India fails to achieve consensus at BRICS foreign ministers meet as Iran dissents on Palestine, Red Sea
Iran was the sole dissenter at the BRICS Foreign Ministers' Meeting in New Delhi (May 14–15, 2026) that prevented adoption of a joint statement. Iranian Fore...
‘Xi asked me if the U.S. will defend Taiwan’, says Trump
During the May 2026 Beijing summit, Chinese President Xi Jinping directly asked US President Trump whether the United States would defend Taiwan in the event...
Xi, Trump reach series of new common understandings: China's foreign ministry
Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump held a two-day state summit in Beijing (May 14–15, 2026), described by China as "historic" and a "...
Trump concludes China visit hailing ‘fantastic deals’
A two-day US-China summit concluded in Beijing on May 15, 2026, with both sides claiming positive outcomes while analysts noted limited concrete deliverables...