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PM Modi leaves for Namibia after concluding two-day visit to Brazil
Modi is on a five-nation visit, and Namibia will be his last stop.
In Brasilia, PM Modi held "productive talks" with President Lula, the Prime Minister's Office said in a post on X.
The discussions focused on diversifying trade ties, as well as expanding cooperation in clean energy, sustainable development and mitigating climate change. The leaders also agreed to deepen collaboration in defence, security, agriculture, space, semiconductors, artificial intelligence (AI) and Digital Public Infrastructure, it said.
Prime Minister Modi in a post on X also said that he held "fruitful talks with President Lula, who has always been passionate about India-Brazil friendship".
"Our talks included ways to deepen trade ties and also diversify bilateral trade. We both agree that there is immense scope for such linkages to thrive in the coming times," he said.
During the visit, India and Brazil also inked agreements to bolster cooperation in several areas.
The Prime Minister on Tuesday was also conferred with Brazil's highest civilian award, the Grand Collar of the National Order of the Southern Cross.
The honour was presented by President Lula in recognition of PM Modi's notable contributions to strengthening bilateral relations and enhancing India-Brazil cooperation across key global platforms.
On Monday, Prime Minister Modi attended the Brics summit, during which he said that nations must work together to make supply chains for critical minerals and technology secure and ensure that no country uses these resources for its own "selfish gain" or as a "weapon" against others.
Brics, consisting of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, has been expanded with five additional members: Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE.
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Indian Express
7 minutes ago
- Indian Express
Express View on trade pacts and agriculture: Carry forward the momentum
Now that the India-UK Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) has been sealed, the focus shifts to the more challenging deal with the US. A major stumbling block to inking even an interim free trade agreement before US President Donald Trump's August 1 deadline — to either sign or face so-called reciprocal tariffs of up to 26 per cent — is agriculture. India does not want to open up its market for American soyabean, corn (maize), ethanol and dairy products. What this defensive stance misses is the potential loss from the fact that India's agricultural exports to the US, at $6.2 billion in 2024, exceeded its imports of $2.4 billion. A 26 per cent tariff will definitely hurt Indian seafood exports to the US that alone was valued at $2.5 billion. That loss would be a gain for the likes of Ecuador and Chile, slapped with only the 10 per cent baseline tariff. On the other hand, the fear of US farm imports is more about perception than reality. Take dairy, where the US isn't as big an exporter of milk powder, butter and cheese as New Zealand and the European Union. Or soyabean, where India imported over $5 billion worth of its oil during 2024-25. The bulk of that was from Argentina and Brazil, with the US share at just $126.3 million. The US is, no doubt, cost competitive in corn and the world's biggest producer as well as exporter. But corn is basically a feed grain, also increasingly being used as a biofuel feedstock. Allowing imports would benefit India's dairy and poultry farmers grappling with rising feed costs, aggravated by the diversion of corn for fuel ethanol production. The sheer demand growth makes corn imports by India inevitable, whether from the US or elsewhere. India needs a farm trade policy based not on import protection, but expanding and diversifying its exports. That happened during 2003-04 to 2013-14, when the country's agriculture exports soared from $7.5 billion to $43.3 billion and new markets were created in products from basmati rice and buffalo meat to frozen shrimps, guar gum meal, chilly and seed spices. Since then, exports have hardly grown to about $52 billion in 2024-25. Even worse have been shipment curbs — on rice, wheat, sugar or onion — clamped at the slightest indication of domestic supply shortfalls. CETA has been a refreshing departure, with India successfully negotiating duty-free access for its exports of seafood, processed foods, spices, fruit and vegetables to the UK, while simultaneously offering to cut tariffs on imports of whisky, chocolates, soft drinks and salmon from the latter. A similar confident approach of export proactiveness rather than import defensiveness is required in deals with other countries — the US included.


Hindustan Times
32 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
Operation Sindoor proved there is no safe haven for our enemies: PM Modi
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Indian Express
37 minutes ago
- Indian Express
Opposition alleges Rs 70,000 crore scam as CAG flags accounting lapses in poll-bound Bihar
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Of this, Rs 5,577.91 crore (60.60%) pertained to advances drawn for the 'creation of Capital Assets', including major schemes under road works, education, health, rural development, etc. The CAG further noted that 1,648 AC bills, totalling Rs 1,041.12 crore, were drawn in March 2024 alone, indicating a 'rush' to exhaust budgets at the end of the financial year. The audit said that this pattern of drawing money late in the year and not reconciling it 'indicates poor public expenditure management'. 'The non-submission of DC bills within the prescribed period breaches financial discipline and enhances the risk of misappropriation of public money,' the report warned. The CAG also pointed to issues highlighting systemic lapses in financial reporting with classification of expenditure, particularly under grants-in-aid. It observed that 59.95% of the total budgeted grants-in-aid of Rs 77,600.47 crore disbursed during 2023-24 were lumped under the category, 'Others', without clearly identifying the institutions or schemes to which the funds were released. The CAG noted that without proper institutional codes, 'the amounts outstanding against all institutions could not be worked out.' This, it said, is a gap that 'affected the transparency of accounts'. The CAG also flagged significant parking of funds under the Deposit of Local Funds. According to the CAG report, funds budgeted as grants to local bodies and municipal bodies were transferred there, but never spent. Over 2019-24, the balance in these accounts swelled to Rs 30,017.64 crore. 'This amount has been shown as Revenue or Capital Expenditure in the respective years but is lying unspent in the deposit head,' the report says. It observes that this practice overstates actual expenditure, and further mentions that the 'reason for transfer of funds for parking in Deposit of Local Fund Head of Account were awaited'. The CAG also noted that internal audit mechanisms in departments were either weak or non-functional, and several previous audit recommendations had not been acted upon. It observed that delays in submission of audit replies and lack of timely action 'defeated the very purpose of the audit'. The CAG said that the combination of the issues of missing UCs, unreconciled advances, off-book deposits and generic accounting entries 'indicate lack of internal controls in the administrative departments'.