News articles and essays on the Indian diplomacy at work around the world.
The agreement was signed in December 2025 and is designed to deepen economic cooperation between the two countries through market access, tariff reduction, services trade, investment, professional mobility and regulatory collaboration. Official details released after the signing described the CEPA as a major milestone in India’s strategic engagement with the Gulf region.
The discussions covered a wide agenda, with both sides focusing on trade and investment, tourism, technology, innovation, energy, education, culture and consular matters. The consultations also provided an opportunity to assess ongoing cooperation and identify new areas where the India-Uzbekistan partnership can be expanded.
The meeting is being held under India’s 2026 BRICS presidency, whose theme is “Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability.” The New Delhi programme includes multiple ministerial sessions at Bharat Mandapam, a joint call on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and a dinner hosted by External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will travel to Gothenburg, Sweden, on May 17-18, 2026, as part
India’s Ambassador to Myanmar, Abhay Thakur, highlighted India’s long role in humanitarian and peacekeeping missions, linking the training initiative to the wider goal of global stability. He also underlined the historical, cultural and geographical closeness between India and Myanmar, noting that Myanmar sits at the intersection of India’s Neighbourhood First, Act East and Indo-Pacific policy priorities.
Multilateral cooperation will form another key part of the dialogue. India and Russia are expected to discuss coordination within the United Nations, BRICS and G20, where both countries have often advocated a more multipolar global order and reforms in international governance. The timing is significant because India is hosting the BRICS Foreign Ministers’ Meeting immediately after Lavrov’s bilateral engagement with Jaishankar.
The adoption of UPI is significant because it brings India’s globally recognised digital payment infrastructure to the Caribbean. UPI has transformed everyday transactions in India by enabling fast, seamless and low-cost payments, and its international expansion is increasingly becoming a part of India’s technology partnership with friendly nations. For Trinidad and Tobago, the rollout could support easier digital payments, strengthen financial connectivity and open new opportunities for fintech cooperation with India.
The inaugural batch includes 29 senior officials from Seychelles, including Directors General and officers from key sectors such as defence, information technology, finance, judiciary, education, public administration and the Office of the President. The delegation is led by Alex Henderson, Deputy Cabinet Secretary for Policy Affairs in the Cabinet Office, Office of the President of Seychelles.
According to the Ministry of External Affairs, the visiting delegates are also scheduled to call on Prime Minister Narendra Modi during their stay in India. The two-day meeting is expected to focus on global and regional issues of common interest, with discussions likely to reflect the priorities of emerging economies at a time of shifting geopolitical alignments, economic uncertainty and continuing debate over the future of multilateral institutions.
The newly introduced products include an AI-enabled “Forecast of Monsoon Advance over Different Parts of the Country” and a “High Spatial Resolution Rainfall Forecast for Uttar Pradesh” as a pilot service. These systems have been jointly developed by the India Meteorological Department, the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Pune, and the National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting.
