Indian Farmers Boost Sowing of Rice and Oilseeds as of June 27
Farmers have planted oilseeds on 4.9 million hectares of land, climbing 20% from a year earlier, the ministry said in a statement late Monday. Pulses planting has increased to 2.1 million hectares, up 37% from a year earlier, it said.
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Yahoo
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Modi and Milei meet in Argentina ahead of BRICS summit
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Argentine President Javier Milei in Buenos Aires on Saturday, urging the expansion of New Delhi's preferential trade deal with South America's Mercosur bloc. The bilateral talks with Milei are the latest in Modi's whistle-stop diplomatic tour culminating in the summit of BRICS emerging economies starting on Sunday in Brazil. Diplomats from both countries at the meeting, which included a lunch, decided to "deepen bilateral relations and commercial ties," according to a statement from the Argentine presidency. Indian foreign ministry diplomat Periasamy Kumaran told reporters Modi "requested Argentina's support in expanding the India-Mercosur preferential trade agreement." The Mercosur regional trade bloc, comprising Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Bolivia, is seeking closer ties with Asian economies in the face of Trump's global trade war. "The two leaders discussed the necessity of diversifying and expanding bilateral trade" in sectors including defence, technology and health, said Kumaran. They also touched upon cooperation in the energy sector, including gas and petrol, as well as lithium, a key mineral for the clean energy transition. Argentina is the world's fifth largest producer of lithium, according to the US Geological Survey. "Excellent meeting with President Javier Milei of Argentina," Modi wrote on X of the leaders' second bilateral talks. "We have covered significant ground in our bilateral relations, but we agree that the journey ahead is even more promising!" India was Argentina's fifth largest trading partner in 2024, with bilateral trade up 33 percent, according to figures from the Indian external affairs ministry. tev/nn/mr/ib/aks/mlm Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Washington Post
3 hours ago
- Washington Post
Deep Reads: Abandoned by Trump, a farmer and a migrant search for a better future
As an American farmer, JJ Ficken, 37, was perpetually subject to weather, labor, loans, overhead, markets, health, politics. None of it was predictable, and all of it was a threat. The industry's survival has long depended on the deals made between millions of Americans willing to brave all that uncertainty and a federal government willing to sustain them, through grants, subsidies, insurance, financing, payouts and disaster relief. But then President Donald Trump, in the earliest days of his second term, threatened to break tens of thousands of those deals, suspending billions in agricultural funding and decimating the staffs that managed it. Swept up in the freeze was JJ and the $50 million grant program he'd signed up for along with 140 other farmers across the country. All of them had agreed to hire and, in many cases, house domestic workers or lawful immigrants willing to take jobs that Americans would not, but with the reimbursements in doubt, farmers worried they'd miss payrolls, default on loans or face bankruptcy. This story follows JJ and Otto Vargas, 24, as JJ recruits, meets and starts working with Otto – all while JJ wonders whether the government will ever pay him back. John Woodrow Cox reported, wrote and read the piece. Sarah Blaskey co-wrote the story. David Ovalle contributed to the report. Bishop Sand composed music and produced audio for the piece. Subscribe to The Washington Post here.
Yahoo
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Xi Jinping's surprise no-show at BRICS Summit fuels speculation about China's global standing
Chinese President Xi Jinping will not attend this week's BRICS Summit in Brazil, marking the first time the Chinese leader has missed the gathering of major emerging economies. The abrupt decision has triggered widespread speculation about internal political dynamics within China and the fraying cohesion of BRICS itself. China's official explanation — a "scheduling conflict" and the fact that Xi already met with Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva earlier this year, according to the South China Morning Post — has been met with skepticism. Premier Li Qiang will attend the summit in Xi's place, continuing a recent trend of Xi scaling back his appearances on the global stage. "That doesn't make sense," said Gordon Chang, an expert on U.S.-China relations. "There are many other countries at the BRICS summit, not just Brazil. To me, it's extremely significant that Xi Jinping is not going. It suggests turbulence at home — there are signs he's lost control of the military and that civilian rivals are reasserting power. This is a symptom of that." Russia's Putin Hosts China's Xi At Massive Moscow Military Parade On Red Square Bryan Burack of the Heritage Foundation agrees that Xi's absence underscores deeper issues: "It's another indication that BRICS is not going to be China's vassalization of the Global South." He noted that countries like Brazil and Indonesia have recently imposed tariffs on China over industrial overcapacity and dumping, moves that suggest widening rifts within the group. "China is actively harming all those countries for the most part, maybe with some exceptions, through its malign trade policies and dumping and overcapacity." Read On The Fox News App Some analysts point to rising China-India friction as a contributing factor in Xi's decision to skip the summit. "China has been at war with India for decades, essentially," Burack said. "These are fundamentally opposing interests. It's difficult to see China changing its behavior in the near term, and that will keep tensions high." India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to take a leading role at the gathering, potentially another deterrent for Xi's attendance. Another key leader — Russian President Vladimir Putin — is only expected to address the group by video. After Trump's Departure, G7 Leaders Fail To Reach Agreements On Key Issues Formed by Brazil, Russia, India and China and later joined by South Africa, BRICS was envisioned as a non-Western counterweight to G7 dominance. It has expanded to include Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, the UAE and, most recently, Indonesia, strengthening its economic footprint. Economist Christian Briggs highlighted BRICS's massive scale: "BRICS now comprises 12 full members and up to 23 when counting partners. Collectively, they account for over 60% of the world's GDP and around 75% of the global population. They control vast natural resources and a growing share of global trade flows." Yet despite its scale, the bloc remains ideologically and strategically fragmented. "It's a group of countries that hate each other," Burack said bluntly. "China is harming many of them through unfair trade practices. There's not a lot of incentive for real unity." The alliance's aspirations to challenge the U.S. dollar through alternative payment systems and a potential BRICS currency have gained media traction — but experts caution against overestimating this threat. "There's been a lot of fearmongering about a BRICS currency," said Burack. "But the interests of these countries are completely divergent. There's more smoke than fire when it comes to a currency challenge to the dollar." Chang echoed this skepticism: "The only country that can challenge the dollar is the United States. Weakness in the dollar is due to what we are doing domestically, not what the BRICS are doing." Still, Briggs offered a counterpoint, arguing that BRICS members are already reshaping global currency flows. "They're moving away from the dollar into digital yuan, rupees, rubles. China has launched a SWIFT alternative already adopted by the Caribbean banking sector — trillions of dollars are shifting." Macron Chides Trump, China Over Trade, Ukraine, Gaza: Policies 'Will Kill Global Order' While its cohesion remains questionable, BRICS poses a long-term challenge to U.S. influence — particularly in regions where Washington has retreated diplomatically and economically. "China filled the void left by the U.S. in places like Africa," said Briggs. "Now it controls about 38% of the world's minerals. Meanwhile, Russia's economy has doubled despite sanctions, because they preemptively reduced reliance on the dollar." Yet Chang sees India as a brake on any aggressive anti-Western tilt. "BRICS has an 'I' in it—and that's India. Modi doesn't want to be part of an anti-Western bloc. As long as India's in BRICS, the rest of the world is safe." To some, Xi's no-show signals instability in Beijing. To others, the opposite: it demonstrates confidence in China's dominance over the other BRICS members. "He doesn't have to be there," Briggs contended. "Xi's power allows him to delegate. China is trading with nearly 80% of the world now. He's moving the agenda forward even in absentia." What's clear is that BRICS continues to evolve — its internal contradictions as visible as its geopolitical ambitions. Whether Xi's absence marks a retreat or a recalibration remains one of the key questions hovering over the summit in article source: Xi Jinping's surprise no-show at BRICS Summit fuels speculation about China's global standing
