Portrait News

The joint statement issued following bilateral meetings between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron has been changed, with the new version released on Friday lacking critical details on pending arms accords. References to a roadmap for the combined development of a combat aircraft engine and the construction of three further Scorpene submarines were among the omissions. They also unveiled a roadmap for combined actions in the Indo-Pacific region, where both countries have vital stakes, and stated that they are nearing completion of an Indo-French development fund to jointly finance sustainable development initiatives by other countries in the...

Union Home Minister Amit Shah is expected to visit West Bengal in August, a month after the state’s panchayat elections were marred by violence, according to BJP state president Sukanta Majumdar on Saturday. Majumdar, who visited Shah in Delhi on Friday, told reporters at the airport here upon his return from the national capital that Shah does not want a single fatality in West Bengal as a result of political violence.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan to discuss ways to strengthen their varied bilateral ties. Mr. Modi was received with a hearty embrace by UAE President Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum at the Qasr-Al-Watan, the presidential residence in Abu Dhabi. Mr. Modi arrived in the UAE capital after a successful two-day visit to Paris, where he served as the Guest of Honour at the Bastille Day celebration and signed various agreements to improve bilateral ties with French President Emmanuel Macron.

According to sources, Prime Minister Narendra Modi called Union Home Minister Amit Shah from France on Thursday to inquire about the flood-like scenario in sections of Delhi. Mr. Shah updated Modi on the flood-like condition and assured him that the water level in the Yamuna is expected to fall in the next 24 hours during their phone call, they added. “PM @narendramodi ji spoke to Union Home Minister @AmitShah about the flood-like situation in parts of Delhi due to the rising water level of the Yamuna river,” the home minister’s office stated in a tweet.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has declared that the fees and health surcharges paid by visa applicants, including Indians, to the UK’s state-funded National Health Service (NHS) will be dramatically increased. This rise is intended to satisfy the country’s salary increase in the public sector.

President Joe Biden accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of having a “craven lust for land and power” at the close of a NATO summit in which Ukraine received new security assurances from the US and its partners for its defence against Moscow on Wednesday. Members of the world’s most powerful military alliance presented the potential of long-term security a day after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy branded as “absurd” NATO’s unwillingness to extend an invitation or set a timeframe for Ukraine’s admission.

According to the Kremlin, Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Wagner mercenary head Yevgeny Prigozhin on June 29, five days after the group marched on Moscow in a brief uprising.According to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, Putin invited 35 people to the meeting, including unit commanders, and it lasted three hours. According to Peskov, the Wagner leaders told Putin that they were his warriors and would continue to fight for him.

In a campaign-style address in Las Vegas on Sunday, former US President Donald Trump unleashed a scathing attack on President Joe Biden, saying that “gloves are off.” Donald Trump slammed Biden on crime, immigration, the economy, suspected corruption, and election rigging, saying the United States had a “corrupt” and “incompetent” leader. “I was very nice to him, but now we can’t be nice because the gloves have come off.”

When UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese met at the Nato summit on Tuesday, they engaged in lighthearted banter about the ongoing Ashes cricket series. When Anthony Albanese and Rishi Sunak met on Tuesday at the Nato summit in Lithuania, Albanese lost no time in stunning Sunak with a surprise gift.

A group of Myanmarese activists has invited French President Emmanuel Macron to raise concerns with Prime Minister Modi during his planned visit to France about India’s transfer of armaments and technology to the Myanmar dictatorship.On July 14, Prime Minister Modi will be the chief guest at Paris’ Bastille Day Parade, and the two countries are likely to boost defence ties during his visit.Justice For Myanmar (JFM), a secretive group of activists, has asked Macron to increase the supply of Indian armaments and weapons technology to Myanmar’s military administration, and to set a condition that French guns and technology be supplied...