News articles and essays on the Indian diplomacy at work around the world.
The two countries also signed a new Memorandum of Arrangement on Maritime Security Cooperation, providing a wider operational framework for cooperation between the Indian Navy and the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force.
The latest shipment reached Kabul on August 20, 2026, with Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal reaffirming India’s commitment to supporting the Afghan people and strengthening healthcare services in the country.
The talks come at a time when India and Nepal are expanding physical connectivity through roads, railways and Integrated Check Posts while simultaneously strengthening cooperation between their security and law-enforcement institutions.
India was represented at the fourth India-Singapore Ministerial Roundtable, or ISMR, by Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, External Affairs Minister Dr S. Jaishankar, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal, and Minister of State for Commerce and Industry and Electronics and Information Technology Jitin Prasada.
Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar met Austria’s Ambassador to India, Dr Robert Zischg, at Nirvachan Sadan in New Delhi on August 19. During the meeting, the two sides reaffirmed their commitment to closer democratic cooperation and discussed opportunities to work together in election administration and capacity building.
The Indian delegation included Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, External Affairs Minister Dr S. Jaishankar, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal, and Minister of State for Commerce and Industry and Electronics and Information Technology Jitin Prasada. The fourth ISMR was held in Singapore on August 20, continuing a high-level institutional mechanism established in 2022 to identify new areas of cooperation between the two countries.
The decisions were announced following talks between Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Japanese Defence Minister Shinjiro Koizumi in New Delhi on August 20, 2026. The meeting came amid growing strategic uncertainty across the Indo-Pacific and reflected the steadily expanding security dimension of the Japan-India Special Strategic and Global Partnership.
The discussions covered the entire gamut of ongoing defence and military technical cooperation, with particular emphasis on capacity building, training, military technical cooperation and defence research and development (R&D). The two sides also exchanged the Terms of Reference for institutionalising Joint Services Staff Talks between the Indian and Armenian Armed Forces.
The JWG reviewed progress since its first meeting held on 13 November 2024. The minutes of the inaugural meeting were confirmed and adopted, and Points of Contact from both sides were designated to facilitate coordination and implementation of agreed activities.
According to the account of Trump’s comments, the US President referred to India’s most recent Lok Sabha election and highlighted both the enormous number of votes cast and the requirement for voters appearing at polling stations to establish their identity.
