Bilateral merchandise trade between India and Brazil reached $15.07 billion in 2025-26. Reaching the new 2030 target would therefore require the two countries to roughly double their current trade relationship over the next several years.
The collaboration was announced on 31 August 2026 after an agreement was signed during the Pelvic Organ Prolapse Conference 2026 in Chennai. Around 350 gynaecological surgeons and healthcare professionals attended the conference. Under the initiative, Stryker and IAGE plan to conduct clinical education programmes across India over the next two years, including training and interaction with Indian and international specialists experienced in fluorescence-guided surgery.
Major Rajprasad, an officer of the Corps of Engineers and 7 Engineer Regiment, began developing the system after examining the risks faced by troops while dealing with IEDs and clearing terrorist hideouts. Government records from the earlier stages of the project identify him as Captain Rajprasad R.S. and recognise Xploder under the iDEX4Fauji initiative as an unmanned IED-disposal remotely operated vehicle. The project subsequently matured as he continued his service and development work.
The most concrete initiative so far involves state-owned BEML Limited, which has entered into a strategic partnership with South Korea’s HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering and HD Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries to jointly design, develop and manufacture a new generation of port and maritime cranes in India.
The development is strategically significant for India as it prepares for a major expansion of its civil nuclear programme. Uzbekistan, meanwhile, has rapidly increased uranium production and possesses substantial proven reserves, making the Central Asian country an increasingly important potential source of nuclear fuel for India.
The specialised vessel was commissioned at the Naval Dockyard in Mumbai on 31 August 2026, with Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Krishna Swaminathan presiding over the ceremony. Its induction gives the Navy another large, purpose-built platform capable of supporting some of the most demanding underwater operations undertaken by a modern naval force.
Total telephone subscriptions increased from 1,348.08 million at the end of June to 1,354.28 million at the end of July 2026, an addition of approximately 6.20 million connections in one month. This represented monthly growth of 0.46%. Wireless connections, including mobile and Fixed Wireless Access services, accounted for the overwhelming majority of the market, rising by 6.02 million to 1,306.27 million, while the wireline base increased by around 185,000 connections to 48.01 million.
This effectively shifts the customer interface away from the physical card and towards UPI. The card remains important as the underlying credit instrument, but from the consumer’s perspective it becomes less visible because the same familiar payment experience can be used whether the money comes from a bank account or a credit line.
The initiative could eventually allow businesses, travellers and other users in BRICS economies to move money between participating countries more rapidly and at lower cost by linking national digital-payment infrastructure and sovereign digital currencies. The proposal remains under discussion, however, and no common BRICS CBDC network or settlement architecture has yet been approved.
The discussions are expected to focus on shipbuilding, green shipping, alternative marine fuels, port decarbonisation, seafarer training and ship recycling, reflecting the growing importance of maritime cooperation within the wider India–Norway relationship.
