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Tag: Narendra Modi

  • Putin reassures pro-Russian world leaders his grip on power remains strong | CNN

    Putin reassures pro-Russian world leaders his grip on power remains strong | CNN

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    Hong Kong
    CNN
     — 

    Vladimir Putin projected an image of strength in front of a virtual gathering of Moscow-friendly leaders on Tuesday, in what was the Russian leader’s first appearance on the world stage since he faced an armed insurrection late last month.

    The comments, made during an address to leaders attending the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) hosted by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, came days after Putin diffused the rebellion launched by the Wagner mercenary group.

    The events were widely seen as the most significant threat to power the autocrat had faced, and left Putin’s partners and rivals alike wondering how tightly in control he really was, more than one year into his floundering invasion of Ukraine.

    Putin used his moment to speak at the one-day summit to give his answer to that question.

    “The solidarity and high responsibility for the fate of the fatherland was clearly demonstrated by Russian political circles and the entire society by coming out as a united front against the attempted armed rebellion,” he said.

    “I would like to take this opportunity to thank my colleagues from the (SCO) countries who have expressed support for the actions of the Russian leadership,” Putin told the attending leaders, who included China’s Xi Jinping, Belarus’ Alexander Lukashenko and Iran’s Ebrahim Raisi.

    Many of the leaders in virtual attendance, Russia-friendly nations who share borders, diplomatic aims or strong economic ties with Moscow, could be significantly impacted by changes in Putin’s fate.

    Founded in 2001 and spreadheaded by China and Russia, the SCO also includes India, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan and accounts for a sweeping portion of Eurasia and, with the inclusion of the world’s two most populous countries, around 40% of the global population.

    Tuesday’s summit also provided an opportunity for the body to extend its reach – with the expected official inclusion of Iran coming alongside a step toward welcoming staunch Moscow ally Belarus – the second expansion in the group’s more than two decade history.

    Both Moscow and Beijing view the group as an alternative to Western-led blocs and a key vehicle for their bid to push back against what it sees as a US-led world order.

    But while many members may support a world with more dispersed global power, SCO contains an tangled web of interests and allegiances, which members must navigate as they aim to enhance regional security and cooperation more broadly.

    Modi in opening remarks praised the SCO as an “important platform for peace, prosperity and development in the entire Eurasia region.”

    “We do not see the SCO as an extended neighborhood, but an extended family. Security, economic development, connectivity, unity, respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, and environmental protection are the pillars of our vision for SCO,” he said.

    But this year’s event was a toned down affair for the body, compared to last year’s gathering. That event stretched over two in-person days in Samarkand, Uzbekistan and featured a number of sideline meetings between attending leaders.

    India announced last month that its leaders’ summit would be held virtually, without specifying why. An online summit can cut time spent together – and reduce the optics of solidarity between participants.

    Modi is hosting the gathering days after being welcomed for a state visit in the US by President Joe Biden, who is keen to cultivate New Delhi as a partner in its growing competition with China.

    In his address to the summit, Chinese leader Xi stressed the need for unity and cooperation, and called for regional leaders to take charge of their own countries’ futures – in an apparent bid for them to resist outside influence in the region.

    “The world today is full of chaos, and changes unseen in a century are accelerating. Human society is facing unprecedented challenges. Unity or division? Peace or Conflict? Cooperation or confrontation?” Xi said, calling instead for “win-win” cooperation.

    “We need to strengthen strategic communication and coordination … We must formulate foreign policies independently based on the overall and long-term interests of the region, and firmly hold the future and destiny of our country’s development and progress in our own hands,” he said, according to Chinese state news agency Xinhua.

    Russia has become more dependent on China since Ukraine war began. Here’s how

    Putin’s on-going war in Ukraine casts a long shadow over the broadly Russia-friendly gathering, especially as China and India have been under pressure from the West to limit support for Moscow or even push Putin toward peace.

    A joint statement between Modi and Biden late last month saw the two express concern over the conflict in Ukraine and “coercive actions and rising tensions” in the India-Pacific region – statements that did not directly name Russia or China, but appeared to point their way.

    Putin and Modi spoke via phone last week, with the Indian leader “reiterating his call for dialogue and diplomacy,” New Delhi said.

    At last year’s SCO summit, Modi told Putin in “today’s era is not an era of war.”

    And India has its own friction with neighboring China.

    Beijing remains deeply suspicious of a US Indo-Pacific security grouping known as the Quad of which India is a part, and the two nuclear-armed neighbors have a simmering conflict along a contested border, which has erupted into violence in recent years.

    The group also brings together India and Pakistan – another pairing of two nuclear-armed neighbors with a long history of fractious relations.

    In May, Pakistani Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari became the most senior-level official to visit India in seven years, when he joined a SCO foreign ministers meeting.

    Iran’s expected entry into the grouping comes after it signed a memorandum of obligations at last year’s summit. Belarus, a close Russian partner, will take a similar step toward full membership this year, Modi said in his opening remarks.

    Aspiring SCO member Belarus played a key role in navigating Putin’s crisis, claiming to have brokered a deal allowing Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin to safely leave Russia for Belarus.

    Pakistan and India were the most recent countries to join, gaining full membership in 2017. A number of other countries hold dialogue partner or observer status.

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  • Egypt and India bolster ties as Modi makes first trip to Cairo

    Egypt and India bolster ties as Modi makes first trip to Cairo

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    Egypt’s president and India’s PM discuss strengthening relations in areas including trade, food security and defence.

    Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has met Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi in Cairo on a rare visit during which both sides pledged to deepen their strategic partnership.

    Modi and el-Sisi “signed a joint declaration to elevate relations to a strategic partnership”, which they had first announced in January when el-Sisi visited New Delhi, a spokesman for the Egyptian president said on Sunday.

    The two leaders agreed to boost investment by India – the world’s most-populous nation – in Egypt, which has the Arab world’s largest population and is now in the grips of an economic downturn.

    Both sides said the bilateral talks covered areas including trade and investment, renewable energy, information technology and pharmaceuticals.

    The two also discussed “further cooperation in G-20, highlighting the issues of food and energy insecurity, climate change and the need for Global South to have a concerted voice”, a statement from Modi’s office said, adding that the talks additionally addressed defence and security ties.

    Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi (right) gives the Order of the Nile medal to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Cairo, June 25, 2023 [Egyptian Presidency Handout/AFP]

    El-Sisi welcomed Modi at the presidential palace in Cairo and bestowed upon him the country’s highest honour, the Order of the Nile, as the two leaders affirmed their “mutual commitment” to strengthen relations.

    This would include “increasing high-level visits”, facilitating direct flights between the capitals, and “developing Indian investments in Egypt”, according to the presidency in Cairo.

    Last January, the two leaders agreed to increase Indian investments in Egypt, which currently stand at more than $3.15bn, including through a potential “dedicated land area for Indian industries in the Suez Canal Economic Zone”.

    Those projects include a $12bn green hydrogen plant to be built by Indian firm ACME.

    India is already Egypt’s seventh-largest trading partner, according to data from Cairo’s central bank, with trade reaching $7bn last year.

    ‘Historic visit’

    Modi, who arrived in Cairo on Saturday, is the first Indian prime minister to pay a state visit to Egypt in more than two decades. His two-day stop came six months after el-Sisi was in New Delhi as an official guest during India’s Independence Day.

    Modi also invited the Egyptian leader to attend a summit of the Group of 20 leading rich and developing countries, which India will host in September.

    Earlier this year, both countries agreed to boost trade cooperation. India is one of the top five importers of Egyptian products, including crude oil and liquefied natural gas, salt, cotton, inorganic chemicals and oilseeds. Notable Indian exports to Egypt include cotton yarn, coffee, herbs, tobacco, lentils, vehicle parts, ships, boats and electrical machinery.

    Following his talks with el-Sisi, Modi visited a historic mosque, Cairo’s Al-Hakim, which was recently renovated with the help of the India-based Dawoodi Bohra community. He also paid tribute to Indian soldiers who died in World War I and are buried in the Heliopolis War Cemetery in Cairo.

    The two governments signed agreements in the fields of agriculture, archaeology, antiquities and competition law, said Arindam Bagchi, a spokesman for India’s Ministry of External Affairs.

    “My visit to Egypt was a historic one. It will add renewed vigor to India-Egypt relations and will benefit the people of our nations,” Modi wrote on Twitter before departing for New Delhi.

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  • India’s Modi meets the press at the White House — and takes rare questions

    India’s Modi meets the press at the White House — and takes rare questions

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    WASHINGTON (AP) — Narendra Modi did something very unusual on Thursday at the White House — he took questions from journalists.

    It’s a rare occurrence for the Indian prime minister who avoids unscripted moments and has presided over a steady decline in press freedom in his country.

    The news conference was more limited than the kind that U.S. presidents usually hold with foreign leaders, but even that wasn’t easy to arrange with Modi. Indian officials agreed to the event only the day before, according to a person familiar with the matter who requested anonymity to discuss the sensitive negotiations.

    Administration officials told Modi’s advisers that taking questions from the media was a standard part of how White House state visits are conducted, the person said.

    An Indian reporter asked about addressing climate change, and an American reporter pressed Modi on human rights concerns— a particularly delicate topic as the United States seeks closer ties with India as a bulwark against China’s influence in the region.

    Modi defended India by saying “democracy runs in our veins” and insisting that there is ”absolutely no space for discrimination.”

    Although Modi, who is 72, has granted sporadic interviews since becoming India’s leader nine years ago, he has never held a solo press conference. Sometimes when asked questions he’ll defer to others on stage with him.

    Modi also tends to keep reporters at a distance during overseas trips, such as last year in Germany, when the two countries announced a clean energy deal.

    The Indian delegation had insisted then that no press conference be held, according to a German official, who spoke only on condition of anonymity.

    However, Modi has loosened up a little in the company of American counterparts.

    Eight years ago, when President Barack Obama visited India, Modi answered questions from two reporters, including one from The Associated Press.

    Modi is active on social media where hundreds of millions follow him, hosts a monthly radio program where he directly connects with listeners, and often makes big speeches. He uses these platforms to highlight government programs, inaugurate infrastructure projects and express condolences when an accident or tragedy strikes.

    But Modi has often remained silent on polarizing incidents, including when religious minorities have faced attacks by Hindu nationalists. He has also not commented on current ethnic violence roiling India’s remote northeast, where at least 100 people have died since May.

    “His silences are legendary – he has never asked people to refrain from sectarian violence,” said Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay, author of a Modi biography.

    He suggested that Modi should not get much credit for any press conference in Washington if only a few questions were allowed.

    Modi’s action, Mukhopadhyay said, “allows him to project an image as a more reasonable and democratic leader abroad, while he continues to evade press conferences at home, where he has scant regard for press freedom.”

    The decline in press freedom didn’t start with Modi and his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, but it’s increased. The country fell 11 places, to 161 out of 180 countries, in this year’s Press Freedom Index published by Reporters Without Borders.

    The organization cited violence against journalists and a partisan media landscape as reasons that “press freedom is in crisis in the world’s largest democracy.”

    “With an average of three or four journalists killed in connection with their work every year, India is one of the world’s most dangerous countries for media,” the report said.

    India’s foreign minister, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, dismissed the report’s claims at an event last month.

    In recent years, journalists have been arrested and some are stopped from traveling abroad. Dozens are facing criminal prosecution, including for sedition. At the same time, the government has introduced sweeping regulatory laws for social media companies that give it more power to police online content.

    A number of media outlets critical of Modi have also been subjected to tax searches, most recently the BBC after it aired a documentary that examined the prime minister’s role in 2002 anti-Muslim riots in the western state of Gujarat, where he was chief minister at the time.

    More than 1,000 people were killed in the violence. Modi has denied allegations that authorities under his watch allowed and even encouraged the bloodshed, and India’s Supreme Court said it found no evidence to prosecute him.

    The two-part BBC program drew an immediate backlash from the Indian government, which invoked emergency powers under its information technology laws to block it from being shown in the country. Social media platforms including Twitter and YouTube also complied with government requests to remove links to the documentary.

    ____

    Pathi reported from New Delhi. Associated Press writers Aamer Madhani and Darlene Superville contributed to this report.

    ___

    This version has corrected that India’s placement on the Press Freedom Index is 161, not 160.

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  • Biden and Modi cheer booming economic ties in visit that also reckoned with India’s record on rights

    Biden and Modi cheer booming economic ties in visit that also reckoned with India’s record on rights

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    WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden on Thursday pronounced the U.S.-India relationship never stronger and rolled out new business deals with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi as human rights activists and American lawmakers questioned the administration’s decision to honor the leader with a pomp-filled state visit.

    In a joint news conference with Modi, Biden called the relationship between the U.S. and India among the most consequential in the world and “more dynamic than at any time in history.” He underscored how two of the world’s most powerful democracies were cooperating on issues such as the climate, health care and space, saying that the U.S-India economic relationship was “booming.”

    But Modi bristled at a reporter’s question about his country’s commitment to democratic values as the country has seen an erosion of religious, political and press freedoms under his watch.

    “Democracy is our spirit,” Modi, who rarely takes questions from journalists, said through an interpreter. “Democracy runs in our veins. We live democracy and our ancestors have actually put words to this concept.” He said India has “proved that democracies can deliver and when I say deliver, this is regardless of class, creed, religion, gender.”

    Yet Modi has faced criticism over legislation amending the country’s citizenship law that fast-tracks naturalization for some migrants but excludes Muslims, a rise in violence against Muslims and other religious minorities by Hindu nationalists, and the recent conviction of India’s top opposition leader, Rahul Gandhi, for mocking Modi’s surname.

    Nevertheless, later in a 59-minute address before a joint meeting of Congress, Modi insisted that in India “diversity is a natural way of life.”

    “We are home to all faiths in the world, and we celebrate all of them,” added Modi, in a line that brought many cheering lawmakers to their feet.

    The premier’s description runs counter to accusations by rights groups of widespread attacks and discrimination against India’s Muslims and other minorities under Modi.

    A group of more than 70 lawmakers wrote to Biden this week urging him to raise concerns about the erosion of religious, press and political freedoms during the visit. At least six Democratic lawmakers —Democratic Reps. Cori Bush of Missouri, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Greg Casar of Texas, Jamaal Bowman and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York — boycotted Modi’s address to Congress, because of concerns about his human rights records.

    “When it comes to standing up for human rights, actions speak louder than words,” Bush, Tlaib, Omar and Bowman said in a joint statement. “By bestowing Prime Minister Modi with the rare honor of a joint address, Congress undermines its ability to be a credible advocate for the rights of religious minorities and journalists around the world.”

    Standing alongside Modi, Biden emphasized that press, religious and other fundamental freedoms should be at the core of how both democracies operate. During their Oval Office meeting, Biden said, he and Modi had a “good discussion about democratic values” while Modi said “there’s absolutely no space for discrimination” when pressed about his own commitment on human rights.

    The state visit, just the third of the Biden’s presidency, was certainly a glitzy affair.

    Thousands gathered on the White House South Lawn for the welcoming ceremony, listening to performances by violinist Vibha Janakiraman and the a cappella group Penn Masala. As Modi arrived, the crowd — including many members of the Indian diaspora — broke out in a chant of “Modi, Modi, Modi.”

    “All eyes are on the two largest democracies in the world, India and America,” Modi said. “I believe that our strategic partnership is important. I’m confident that working together will be successful.”

    Later, Modi told Congress that “our partnership augurs well for the future of democracy” as the two countries expand partnerships in defense, semiconductor manufacturing and other industries. He also cheered the “samosa caucus”—the five U.S. House members of Indian descent—and Vice President Kamala Harris, who is Black and of Indian descent, as examples of the impact of the diaspora.

    Biden administration officials say honoring Modi, the leader of the conservative Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, is Diplomacy 101. The U.S.-India relationship will be vital in coming decades as both sides navigate an ascendant China and the enormity of climate change, artificial intelligence, supply chain resilience and other issues.

    “On the issues that matter most that will define the future, our nations look to one another including on critical regional and global issues,” Biden said.

    Among the announcements made Thursday is an agreement that will allow U.S.-based General Electric to partner with India-based Hindustan Aeronautics to produce jet engines for Indian aircraft in India and the sale of U.S.-made armed MQ-9B SeaGuardian drones.

    The Biden administration also announced plans to bolster India’s semiconductor industry. U.S.-based Micron Technology has agreed to build a $2.75 billion semiconductor assembly and test facility in India, with Micron spending more than $800 million and India financing the rest. U.S.-based Applied Materials will launch a new semiconductor center for commercialization and innovation in India, and Lam Research, another semiconductor manufacturing equipment company, will start a training program for 60,000 Indian engineers.

    On the space front, India signed on to the Artemis Accords, a blueprint for space exploration cooperation among nations participating in NASA’s lunar exploration plans. NASA and the Indian Space Research Organization also agreed to make a joint mission to the International Space Station next year.

    “We made critical and emerging technologies the pillar of our next generation partnership to ensure these technologies promote and protect our values, remain open, accessible, trusted and secure,” Biden added. “All this matters for America, for India and for the world.”

    At the welcoming ceremony, Modi called the Indian diaspora in America — the millions of immigrants and their children from the subcontinent living in the U.S. — “the real strength” of the U.S.-India relationship. He said the honor of a formal state visit — the first in the U.S. for India since Barack Obama honored Modi’s predecessor, Manmohan Singh, in 2009 — reflected the positive impact Indians are having worldwide.

    Modi, the son of a tea seller who rose to be India’s premier, also recalled that the first time he visited the White House was three decades ago as a “common man.”

    “I have come here many times but today for the first time, the doors of the White House have been opened for the Indian American community in such large numbers,” Modi said to an estimated crowd of 7,000.

    Despite the major deals, the visit was shadowed by concerns laid out by rights activists and lawmakers who question Modi’s commitment to democratic principles.

    In 2005, the U.S. revoked Modi’s visa to the U.S., citing concerns that, as chief minister of the state of Gujarat, he did not act to stop communal violence during 2002 anti-Muslim riots that left more than 1,000 people dead. An investigation approved by the Indian Supreme Court later absolved Modi, but the stain of the dark moment has lingered.

    Biden and Modi have also had differences over Russia’s war in Ukraine. India abstained from voting on U.N. resolutions condemning Russia and refused to join the global coalition against Russia. Since the start of the war, the Modi government has also dramatically increased its purchase of Russian oil.

    White House officials note that there are signs of change in India’s relationship with Russia, which has long been New Delhi’s biggest defense supplier.

    India is moving away from Russian military equipment, looking more to the U.S., Israel, Britain and other nations. Modi recently met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and has spoken out about his worries about the potential use of nuclear weapons by Russia.

    Modi, before Congress, said the war is “causing great pain” in Ukraine and having residual effects on Europe and beyond.

    “This is not an era of war, but it is one of dialogue and diplomacy” Modi said. “And we must all do what we can to stop the bloodshed and human suffering.”

    Without specifically naming China, Modi also addressed heightened tensions in the region, saying “dark clouds of coercion and confrontation are casting their shadow in the Indo Pacific.”

    Later Thursday, Modi attended a lavish White House state dinner in his honor.

    ___

    Associated Press writers Lisa Mascaro, Fatima Hussein, Stephen Groves, and Ellen Knickmeyer contributed to this report.

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  • India’s Modi brings comedy game to big White House dinner in his honor

    India’s Modi brings comedy game to big White House dinner in his honor

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    WASHINGTON (AP) — Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi brought his comedy game to Thursday’s big White House dinner in his honor, cracking jokes about his lack of singing chops, the time President Joe Biden wanted him to eat even though he was fasting and how well Indians and Americans are getting along.

    Not really known for having a sense of humor, the prime minister kept the nearly 400 guests in stitches as he toasted Biden and first lady Jill Biden before dinner was served.

    “I know your hospitality has moved your guests to sing. I wish, I too, had the singing talent,” Modi joked. “I could have also sang before you all.”

    He was referring to South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, who surprised guests when he got up onstage during a White House state dinner honoring him in April and belted out a rendition of “American Pie,” one of his favorite songs, to raucous applause.

    Modi is on a state visit designed to highlight and foster deeper ties between India and the U.S. He said that with every passing day, Indians and Americans are getting to know each other better.

    “We can pronounce each other’s names correctly. We can understand each other’s accent better,” he joked. “Kids in India become Spider-Man on Halloween and America’s youth is dancing to the tune of ‘Naatu Naatu,’” a catchy song from the Indian movie “RRR.”

    Modi said Thursday’s dinner would give him a chance to make up for not eating during a banquet that he said Biden hosted for him in 2014. Modi was observing a religious fast at the time.

    “I remember you were asking me and asking me again and again what I could eat during my fast. But it was not possible for me to eat anything and you were quite concerned about it,” he said. “Well today, I’m making up for it. All that you desired at that time with so much affection is being fulfilled today.”

    Biden, who was less humorous in his toast, recalled that he said two decades ago when he was chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that the world would be safer if the United States and India “grew to be the closest friends and partners in the world.”

    “I believe that even more today now that I’m president,” Biden said.

    The leaders addressed each other before an audience made up of titans of business, fashion, entertainment and more, with the likes of designer Ralph Lauren, filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan and tennis legend Billie Jean King rubbing shoulders with tech leaders from Apple, Google and Microsoft.

    Shyamalan powered past reporters as he arrived, declaring it “lovely” to be at the White House. Lauren, who paired his tuxedo with gray New Balance sneakers, revealed he had designed the first lady’s off-shoulder green gown, calling her style “chic and elegant.” And violinist Joshua Bell, part of the after-dinner entertainment, said the evening was a “little different than anything I’ve done before.”

    He said he would “skip out” of dinner early to practice. Bell played a rendition of Antonio Vivaldi’s “Summer.”

    Saris — some thoroughly modern and including a Barbiecore hot pink one — and sequins were prominent among those lucky enough to attend the black-tie affair with a guest list heavy on prominent Indian Americans. Politicians of both parties also made the cut, notably including Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, along with Aruna Miller, Maryland’s recently elected lieutenant governor.

    Other notables included social media influencer Jay Shetty, big Democratic donors like Florida lawyer John Morgan and civil rights activist Martin Luther King III. The CEO contingent included Apple’s Tim Cook, Google’s Sundar Pichai and Microsoft’s Satya Nadella.

    Guests dined on a plant-based menu of millet and corn salad, Portobello mushrooms and strawberry shortcake, catering to the prime minister’s vegetarian tastes. For guests wanting something more, roasted sea bass was available upon request.

    Despite deep differences over human rights and India’s stance on Russia’s war in Ukraine, Biden extended to Modi the administration’s third invitation for a state visit. It included the state dinner, a high diplomatic honor that the U.S. reserves for its closest allies.

    Biden hopes all the pomp and attention lavished on Modi — from the thousands who gathered on the White House lawn to cheer his arrival in the morning to the splashy dinner at the end of the day — will help him firm up relations with the leader of a country the U.S. believes will be a pivotal force in Asia for decades to come.

    Guests rode trolley cars down to a pavilion erected on the White House south grounds decorated in the green and saffron colors of India’s flag.

    Despite concerns about backsliding on democracy in India, Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., said she was attending to send the message that the nation of 1.4 billion people is important and “we must call out some of the real issues that are threatening the viability of democracy in all of our countries.”

    A group of more than 70 lawmakers, organized by Jayapal, wrote to Biden this week urging him to raise concerns about the erosion of religious, press and political freedoms with Modi.

    Pichai said he looked forward to the dinner as “an exciting time for U.S.-India relations.”

    “I think we have two countries which have a lot of shared foundations, large democratic systems and values,” Pichai said earlier Thursday in an interview. He cited technology as one area of mutual interest between the nations. “So I think it’s an exciting opportunity. I’m glad there is a lot of investment in a bilateral relationship.”

    Jill Biden enlisted California-based chef Nancy Curtis to help in the kitchen. Curtis specializes in plant-based cooking and said the menu “showcases the best of American cuisine seasoned with Indian elements and flavors.” Saffron risotto accompanied the mushroom main course, and dessert was infused with cardamom and rose syrup. She used millet because India is leading an international year of recognition for the grain.

    Lotus flowers, which are native to Asia and featured in Indian design, were visible throughout the pavilion, along with saffron-hued floral arrangements that differed from table to table.

    “We hope guests feel as if someone has set that table just for them — because we have,” the first lady said as she and her staff previewed the setup.

    After-dinner entertainment also included Penn Masala, a South Asian a cappella group founded by students at the University of Pennsylvania, and the U.S. Marine Band Chamber Orchestra.

    —-

    Associated Press Philanthropy Editor Glenn Gamboa in New York and AP Congressional Correspondent Lisa Mascaro in Washington contributed to this report.

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  • Biden hosts Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at White House

    Biden hosts Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at White House

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    Biden hosts Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at White House – CBS News


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    In a visit that has prompted some criticism, President Biden Thursday welcomed Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the White House. The state visit is seen as a sign of how crucial Mr. Biden’s friendship with Modi is, and comes at a time when tensions are high between the U.S. and India’s neighbor, China. Nancy Cordes has more.

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  • Biden says his ‘dictator’ comment on Xi has no ‘real consequence’ on China ties

    Biden says his ‘dictator’ comment on Xi has no ‘real consequence’ on China ties

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    Joe Biden says his earlier ‘dictator’ comment on Chinese president Xi Jinping has not derailed efforts to mend ties between the world’s two largest economies. He was speaking at a joint press conference with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the White House on June 22, 2023 in Washington, DC.

    Win Mcnamee | Getty Images

    U.S. President Joe Biden dismissed concerns about his comment referencing Chinese leader Xi Jinping a “dictator,” saying his remarks did not undermine diplomatic efforts to mend fragile ties between the two countries.

    “I don’t think it’s had any real consequence,” Biden told reporters Thursday at a joint press conference in Washington with the visiting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

    Biden labeled Xi a dictator during a campaign fundraiser in California on Tuesday, just one day after Secretary of State Antony Blinken wrapped up his first official visit to Beijing.

    Within hours, China shot back with a sharp response, calling Biden’s comment “utterly absurd and irresponsible” and a “provocation.”

    The Chinese ambassador to Washington, Xie Feng, made “strong protests” to senior White House and State Department officials, NBC News reported.

    “I’ve said this for some time — that the hysteria about the relationship with China is collapsing and moving, etc, etc. We had an incident that caused some — some confusion, you might say,” Biden said Thursday. “But Secretary Blinken had a great trip to China. I expect to be meeting with President Xi sometime in the future, in the near term.”

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  • Biden hosts India’s Modi for state visit, navigating critical relationship amid human rights concerns

    Biden hosts India’s Modi for state visit, navigating critical relationship amid human rights concerns

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    Washington — President Biden emphasized the power of democracies on Thursday as he hosted Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the White House, boasting of the collaborations between the two nations on “nearly every human endeavor” while stressing that universal human rights remain vital to the success of both the U.S. and India.

    In a news conference Thursday, Mr. Biden called the relationship between the U.S. and India “among the most consequential in the world” and “stronger, closer and more dynamic than at any time in history.” He underscored how two of the world’s most powerful democracies were cooperating on issues such as the climate, health care and space, saying that the U.S-India economic relationship was “booming.”

    But standing alongside Modi, who has come under criticism from human rights advocates, Mr. Biden also emphasized the importance of press and religious freedoms. “The bottom line is simple,” he said. “We want people everywhere to have the opportunity to live in dignity.”

    A question about his handling of human rights was the first Modi took from a journalist in a press conference since he became prime minister in 2014. A Wall Street Journal reporter asked Modi what steps he and his government are willing to take to improve the rights of Muslims and other minorities and to uphold free speech.

    “When you talk of democracy, if there are no human values and there is no humanity, there are no human rights, then it’s not a democracy,” Modi said, through a translator. “And that is why when you say democracy and you accept democracy and when we live democracy, then there is absolutely no space for discrimination. … That is why, in India’s democratic values, there is absolutely no discrimination, either on basis of caste, creed, age or any kind of geographic location.” 

    President Biden and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi hold a joint press conference at the White House on June 22, 2023 in Washington, D.C.
    President Biden and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi hold a joint press conference at the White House on June 22, 2023 in Washington, D.C. 

    ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images


    Mr. Biden and Modi devoted the state visit to launching new partnerships in defense, semiconductor manufacturing and more sectors as they look to strengthen their countries’ crucial — albeit complicated — relationship.

    Thousands gathered on the White House South Lawn for the welcoming ceremony, listening to performances by violinist Vibha Janakiraman and the a cappella group Penn Masala. As Modi arrived, the crowd — including many members of the Indian diaspora — broke out in a chant of “Modi, Modi, Modi.”

    “All eyes are on the two largest democracies in the world, India and America,” Modi said as the leaders met in the Oval Office. “I believe that our strategic partnership is important. I’m confident that working together will be successful.”

    At the earlier welcoming ceremony, Mr. Biden said he believes the U.S.-India relationship “will be one of the defining relationships of the 21st century. Since I’ve become president, we’ve continued to build a relationship built on mutual trust, candor and respect.”

    But as Mr. Biden fetes Modi, human rights advocates and some U.S. lawmakers are questioning the Democratic president’s decision to offer the high honor to a leader whose nine-year tenure over the world’s biggest democracy has seen a backslide in political, religious and press freedoms.

    Biden administration officials say honoring Modi, the leader of the conservative Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, is Diplomacy 101. The U.S.-India relationship will be vital in coming decades as both sides navigate an ascendant China and the enormity of climate change, artificial intelligence, supply chain resilience and other issues.

    Still, Mr. Biden said at the start of his Oval Office meeting with Modi that he wanted the partnership to be “grounded on democracy, human rights, freedom and the rule of law.”

    White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said the president intended to raise his concerns but avoid lecturing the prime minister. 

    “The question of where politics and the question of democratic institutions go in India is going to be determined within India by Indians,” Sullivan said. “It’s not going to be determined by the United States.” He said “our part is to speak out on behalf of universal values.”

    President Biden and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at an arrival ceremony during a state visit on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, June 22, 2023.
    President Biden and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at an arrival ceremony during a state visit on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, June 22, 2023.

    Sarah Silbiger/Bloomberg via Getty Images


    Among the announcements to be made Thursday is an agreement that will allow U.S.-based General Electric to partner with India-based Hindustan Aeronautics to produce jet engines for Indian aircraft in India and the sale of U.S.-made armed MQ-9B SeaGuardian drones, according to senior Biden administration officials. The officials briefed reporters on condition of anonymity to preview agreements before they are announced.

    The Biden administration also is coming out with plans to bolster India’s semiconductor industry. U.S.-based Micron Technology has agreed to build a $2.75 billion semiconductor assembly and test facility in India, with Micron spending $800 million and India financing the rest. U.S.-based Applied Materials is announcing it will launch a new semiconductor center for commercialization and innovation in India, and Lam Research, another semiconductor manufacturing equipment company, will start a training program for 60,000 Indian engineers.

    On the space front, India will sign on to the Artemis Accords, a blueprint for space exploration cooperation among nations participating in NASA’s lunar exploration plans. NASA and the Indian Space Research Organization also agreed to make a joint mission to the International Space Station next year.

    “We made critical and emerging technologies the pillar of our next generation partnership to ensure these technologies promote and protect our values, remain open, accessible, trusted and secure,” Mr. Biden added. “All this matters for America, for India and for the world.”

    The State Department will also announce plans to open consulates in Bengaluru and Ahmedabad, while India will reopen its consulate in Seattle.

    At the welcoming ceremony, Modi called the Indian diaspora in America — the millions of immigrants and their children from the subcontinent living in the U.S. — “the real strength” of the U.S.-India relationship. He said the honor of a formal state visit — the first in the U.S. for India since Barack Obama honored Modi’s predecessor, Manmohan Singh, in 2009 — reflected the positive impact Indians are having worldwide.

    Modi, the son of a tea seller who rose to be India’s premier, also recalled that the first time he visited the White House was three decades ago as a “common man.”

    “I have come here many times but today for the first time, the doors of the White House have been opened for the Indian American community in such large numbers,” Modi said to an estimated crowd of 7,000.

    Modi has faced criticism over legislation amending the country’s citizenship law that fast-tracks naturalization for some migrants but excludes Muslims, a rise in violence against Muslims and other religious minorities by Hindu nationalists, and the recent conviction of India’s top opposition leader, Rahul Gandhi, for mocking Modi’s surname.

    In 2005, the U.S. revoked Modi’s visa to the U.S., citing concerns that, as chief minister of Gujarat, he did not act to stop communal violence during 2002 anti-Muslim riots that left more than 1,000 people dead. An investigation approved by the Indian Supreme Court later absolved Modi, but the stain of the dark moment has lingered.

    A group of more than 70 lawmakers wrote to Mr. Biden this week urging him to raise concerns about the erosion of religious, press and political freedoms during the visit.

    “It is an important country to me, and we must call out some of the real issues that are threatening the viability of democracy in all of our countries,” said Democratic Rep. Pramila Jayapal of Washington, who was born in India and helped organize the lawmakers’ letter. “If India continues to backslide, I think it will affect our ability to have a really strong relationship with the country.”

    Mr. Biden and Modi have also had differences over Russia’s war in Ukraine. India abstained from voting on U.N. resolutions condemning Russia and refused to join the global coalition against Russia. Since the start of the war, the Modi government has also dramatically increased its purchase of Russian oil.

    White House officials note that there are signs of change in India’s relationship with Russia, which has long been New Delhi’s biggest defense supplier.

    India is moving away from Russian military equipment, looking more to the U.S., Israel, Britain and other nations. Modi recently met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and has spoken out about his worries about the potential use of nuclear weapons by Russia.

    State visits typically are reserved for America’s closest allies, but they also have been used in the past as a carrot to try to strengthen relationships with countries with which the United States has had complicated relationships.

    Modi’s busy itinerary on Thursday also includes an address to Congress and a lavish White House state dinner.

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  • India train accident that killed nearly 300 people caused by signal system error, official says

    India train accident that killed nearly 300 people caused by signal system error, official says

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    An electronic signaling system error led to the train derailment in India that killed nearly 300 people and injured hundreds more, officials said Sunday. The error caused a train to wrongly change tracks and crash into a freight train in India’s eastern state of Odisha, creating a disastrous pileup that involved a second passenger train as well.

    Authorities worked to clear the mangled wreckage of the two passenger trains that derailed Friday night in Balasore district in Odisha in one of the country’s deadliest rail accidents in decades.

    An Odisha government statement revised the death toll to 275 on Sunday. More than 850 others were injured as of Saturday night, according to officials. Earlier Saturday, the Indian army assisted police and the National Disaster Response Force, as well as other rescue teams, to search for survivors.

    “We are not very hopeful of rescuing anyone alive,” Sudhanshu Sarangi, Odisha’s fire services chief told reporters on Saturday morning. Footage from the site of the accident showed bodies lined up along the train tracks while authorities transported injured survivors to hospitals. Odisha’s Chief Secretary Pradeep Jena said at the time that more than 200 ambulances were in service.

    Rescuers carry the body of a victim at the site of passenger trains that derailed in Balasore district, in the eastern Indian state of Orissa, June 3, 2023.
    Rescuers carry the body of a victim at the site of passenger trains that derailed in Balasore district, in the eastern Indian state of Orissa, June 3, 2023.

    AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool


    Jaya Verma Sinha, a senior railway official, said the preliminary investigations revealed that a signal was given to the high-speed Coromandel Express to run on the main track line, but the signal later changed, and the train instead entered an adjacent loop line where it rammed into a freight loaded with iron ore.

    The collision flipped the Coromandel Express coaches onto another track, causing the incoming Yesvantpur-Howrah Express from the opposite side also to derail, she said.

    The passenger trains, carrying 2,296 people, were not overspeeding, she said. Trains that carry goods are often parked on an adjacent loop line so the main line is clear for a passing train.

    Verma said the root cause of the crash was related to an error in the electronic signaling system. She said a detailed investigation will reveal whether the error was human or technical.

    People watch at the site where trains that derailed, in Balasore district, in the eastern Indian state of Orissa, June 4, 2023.
    People watch at the site where trains that derailed, in Balasore district, in the eastern Indian state of Orissa, June 4, 2023.

    AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool


    The electronic interlocking system is a safety mechanism designed to prevent conflicting movements between trains. It also monitors the status of signals that tell drivers how close they are to a next train, how fast they can go and the presence of stationary trains on the track.

    “The system is 99.9% error free. But 0.1% chances are always there for an error,” Verma said. To a question whether the crash could be a case of sabotage, she said “nothing is ruled out.”

    On Sunday, a few shattered carriages, mangled and overturned, were the only remnants of the tragedy. Railway workers toiled under the sun’s glare to lay down blocks of cement to fix the broken tracks. A crew with excavators was removing mud and the debris to clear the crash site.

    At one of the hospitals nearly 9 miles from the site, survivors spoke of the horror of the moment of the crash.

    Pantry worker Inder Mahato could not remember the exact sequence of events, but said he heard a loud bang when the Coromandel Express crashed into the freight. The impact caused Mahato, who was in the bathroom, to briefly lose consciousness.

    Moments later when he opened his eyes, he saw through the door that was forced open people writhing in pain, many of them already dead. Others were frantically trying to get out from the twisted wreckage of his rail car.

    For hours, Mahato, 37, remained stuck in the train’s bathroom, before rescuers scaled up the wreckage and pulled him out.

    “God saved me,” he said, lying on the hospital bed while recuperating from a hairline fracture in his sternum. “I am very lucky I am alive.”

    Mahato’s friends weren’t so lucky. Four of them died in the crash, he said.

    People look at the photographs of the passengers who were traveling in the trains that got derailed for identification in Balasore district, in the eastern Indian state of Orissa, June 4, 2023.
    People look at the photographs of the passengers who were traveling in the trains that got derailed for identification in Balasore district, in the eastern Indian state of Orissa, June 4, 2023.

    AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool


    Meanwhile, many desperate relatives were struggling to identify the bodies of their loved ones because of the gruesomeness of the injuries. Few others were searching hospitals to check whether their relatives were alive.

    In the same hospital where Mahato was recovering from his injuries, Bulti Khatun roamed outside the premises in a dazed state, holding an identity card of her husband who was onboard the Coromandel Express and traveling to southern Chennai city.

    Khatun said she visited the morgue and other hospitals to look for him, but was unable to find him.

    “I am so helpless,” she said, sobbing.

    Fifteen bodies were recovered on Saturday evening and efforts continued overnight with heavy cranes being used to remove an engine that settled on top of a rail car. No bodies were found in the engine and the work was completed on Sunday morning, said Sudhanshu Sarangi, director-general of fire and emergency services in Odisha.

    The crash occurred at a time when Prime Minister Narendra Modi is focusing on the modernization of the British colonial-era railroad network in India, which has become the world’s most populous country with 1.42 billion people. Despite government efforts to improve safety, several hundred accidents occur every year on India’s railways, the largest train network under one management in the world.

    Modi visited the crash site on Saturday and talked to rescue officials. He also visited a hospital to inquire about the injured, and spoke to some of them.

    Modi told reporters he felt the pain of the crash victims. He said the government would do its utmost to help them and strictly punish anyone found responsible.

    In 1995, two trains collided near New Delhi, killing 358 people in one of the worst rail accidents in India. In 2016, a passenger train slid off the tracks between the cities of Indore and Patna, killing 146 people.

    Most such accidents in India are blamed on human error or outdated signaling equipment.

    About 22 million people ride 14,000 trains across India every day, traveling on 40,000 miles of track.

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  • India’s deadly train crash renews questions over safety as government pushes railway upgrade

    India’s deadly train crash renews questions over safety as government pushes railway upgrade

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    NEW DELHI (AP) — India’s prime minister had been scheduled to inaugurate an electrical semi-high-speed train equipped with a safety feature — another step in the modernization of an antiquated railway that is the lifeline of the world’s most populous nation.

    Instead on Saturday, Narendra Modi traveled to eastern Odisha state to deal with one of the country’s worst train disasters that left over 280 dead and hundreds injured. The massive derailment on Friday night involving two passenger trains is a stark reminder of safety issues that continue to challenge the vast railway system that transports nearly 22 million passengers each day.

    India, a country of 1.42 billion people, has one of the world’s most extensive and complicated railways built during the British colonial era: more than 40,000 miles (64,000 kilometers) of tracks, 14,000 passenger trains and 8,000 stations. Spread across the country from the Himalayas in the north to the beaches in the south, it is also a system that is weakened by decades of mismanagement and neglect. Despite efforts to improve safety, several hundred accidents happen every year.

    From 2017 to 2021, there were more than 100,000 train-related deaths in India, according to a 2022 report published by the National Crime Records Bureau. That figure includes cases in which passengers fell from the trains, collisions, and people being mowed by speeding trains on the tracks.

    Official data also suggests derailments are the most common form of rail accidents in India, but have been on a decline in recent years.

    According to India’s Comptroller and Auditor General, Indian Railways recorded 2,017 accidents from 2017 to 2021. Derailments accounted for 69% of the accidents, resulting in 293 deaths.

    The report found multiple factors including track defects, maintenance issues, outdated signaling equipment, and human errors as main causes of the derailments. It also said lack of money or non-utilization of available funds for track restorations led to 26% of the accidents.

    Even though the railway safety in India has improved compared to earlier years when serious crashes and accidents near unmanned crossings were more frequent, scores have still died and hundreds have been injured.

    In 2016, a passenger train slid off the tracks between the cities of Indore and Patna, killing 146 people. A year later, a derailment in southern India killed at least 36 passengers.

    The Modi government, in power for nine years, has invested tens of billions of dollars in the railways. The money has been spent on renovating or replacing the old tracks laid by the British in the 19th century, introducing new trains and removing thousands of unmanned railway crossings.

    The train Modi was supposed to inaugurate Saturday was India’s 19th Vande Bharat Express, connecting the western city of Mumbai and the southern state of Goa.

    The modern trains are designed to help reduce the risk of crashes and derailments. They will be paired with a countrywide automatic train collision protection system, a technology that will make travel safe, according to Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw.

    But the system was not yet installed on the track where Friday’s crash took place. It wasn’t clear what caused the trains to derail and an investigation has started.

    Experts suggest that the country’s railway system needs to prioritize safe tracks and collision protection.

    “India has achieved some success in making train journeys safer over the years, but a lot more needs to be done. The entire system needs a realignment and distributed development. We can’t just focus on modern trains and have tracks that aren’t safe,” said Swapnil Garg, a former officer of the Indian Railway Service of Mechanical Engineers.

    Garg said the crash should “shake up the whole railway system” and prompt authorities to look at the “lax safety culture.”

    “I don’t expect authorities to turn the key and fix things quickly. The Indian railway system is huge and it will take time to make it more safer. But there needs to be a will,” he said.

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  • Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi invited to address Congress

    Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi invited to address Congress

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    WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. congressional leaders have invited Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to address a joint meeting of Congress during a visit to Washington later this month as the U.S. looks to deepen its bonds with India, the world’s most populous democracy, to counter China’s growing influence even as Modi has faced criticism for eroding India’s democratic traditions and human rights.

    House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and other leaders announced Friday that Modi has been invited to make the address on June 22, stating in a letter that the “partnership between our two countries continues to grow” and calling the address an “opportunity to share your vision for India’s future and speak to the global challenges our countries both face.”

    The U.S. is seeking to forge stronger ties overseas — especially in Asia — to counter China’s aggression in the region. Modi’s congressional address would come amid a state visit with President Joe Biden, which includes plans to celebrate Modi with high diplomatic honors reserved for close U.S. allies.

    The White House has said that Modi’s visit will be a chance to build on a commitment to a free and secure Indo-Pacific region, as well as develop technology partnerships and tackle climate change.

    Biden met with Modi in Japan last month at the Group of Seven summit, and he was expected to travel with the prime minister to later meetings in Papua New Guinea and Australia. But, the second leg of Biden’s trip was canceled so the president could travel home to deal with the stand-off with House Republicans over lifting the U.S. national debt.

    Congress routinely welcomes heads of state to deliver an address during a joint meeting, a high-profile opportunity to showcase bonds between the U.S. and other nations. Modi became the fifth Indian prime minister to address Congress in 2016.

    Modi’s visit seven years ago came after the politician was shunned for years because of religious violence in his home state while he was chief minister. Since ascending to become prime minister of India in 2014, his Hindu nationalist party has stifled dissent, cracked down on press criticism and introduced divisive policies that discriminate against Muslims and other minorities.

    India routinely denies criticism of its human rights and civil liberties record.

    Modi has also only lightly criticized Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and refused to impose sanctions.

    Despite those concerns, the U.S. has more to gain than lose from a close friendship with India, the White House has reasoned. Biden is looking to strengthen the Quad, an international partnership with the U.S., Australia, India and Japan, that is seen as a potential bulwark against China’s dominance in the region.

    Congressional leaders seemed to agree. Their letter to Modi states, “We look forward to paving the way for greater collaboration between our countries in the years to come.”

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  • PM Narendra Modi’s Mann Ki Baat marks 100 episodes; Shahid Kapoor, Rohit Shetty, Madhuri Dixit are all praise

    PM Narendra Modi’s Mann Ki Baat marks 100 episodes; Shahid Kapoor, Rohit Shetty, Madhuri Dixit are all praise

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    On Sunday, celebs like Shahid Kapoor, Madhuri Dixit and Rohit Shetty were seen attending the screening of PM Narendra Modi’s 100th episode of Mann Ki Baat at Raj Bhavan in Mumbai. The PM addressed the nation in his 100th episode and said that his radio program is the ‘mann ki baat’ of ‘millions of Indians and an expression of their emotions’. Even the celebs were seen lauding PM Modi’s initiative and speaking about the impact the program has had on the country.

    Celebs laud PM Narendra Modi‘s Mann Ki Baat programme

    While speaking at the event, Shahid told ANI, “Modi ji wanted to stay connected with people, that is the sign of a great leader. Historically, whoever has been the greatest, most popular leaders, be it kings or prime ministers, they’ve always been connected to people. I think it’s a simple thing but the connection is quite deep. To speak your mind and listen to what people have to say, tell them what you think, there can’t be a deeper connection than that. It’s a fantastic format. I enjoyed listening to it. I felt very fortunate that I was called here. It’s almost ten years, so it’s fantastic that I was a part of this today. It’s a privilege to be here.”

    Madhuri praised PM Modi for taking out time and trying to understand everyone’s problems. She said, “He’s such a big leader, he saying something and taking time out for the people. He’s trying to understand their problems which is amazing. He’s reaching different kinds of people in small towns and villages. He’s doing such great work, highlighting those that many aren’t really aware of, and bringing their heroism to the forefront. Not only in our country, but even globally, he is being heralded, which is amazing. If he can reach out into small villages, I am sure it is going to inspire even a lot of youngsters. Age no bar, he’ll inspire everyone.”

    Rohit Shetty said that he felt inspired. He shared, “I felt inspired, if one leader can show us the right path, there is nothing impossible. When I was watching, I felt how lucky we are that we have such an inspirational leader whom people listen to, from whom they are inspired, which is very rare.”

    The radio show Mann Ki Baat first aired on October 3, 2014, and it will complete 10 years next year. PM Modi thanked his listeners for making it a success over the years.

    ALSO READ: Aamir Khan is all praise for PM Narendra Modi’s Mann Ki Baat; Says ‘That is how you lead..’

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  • Why India is so important to Apple

    Why India is so important to Apple

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    Tim Cook, Apple’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) greets the media with folded hands outside the Apple store at Jio World Drive mall, Mumbai, India, April 18, 2023.

    Ashish Vaishnav | Sopa Images | Lightrocket | Getty Images

    Apple CEO Tim Cook is in India this week. He’s opened two new Apple stores, is scheduled to meet with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and he’s seeing sights and visiting customers in the country.

    The international trip is the strongest sign yet that India has become a huge strategic focus for Apple as supply chains move away from China and its smartphone market is increasingly saturated with iPhone owners.

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    India could echo the role China has played in Apple’s business for the last 15 years: A massive market with an expanding middle class to power sales growth, and potentially a home base for the production of millions of Apple devices.

    Analysts say that India’s large population and maturing economy is ideally situated for Apple to make inroads by increasing marketing efforts and offering retail in the country. At the same time, India’s government is eager to work closely with Apple to make it possible to manufacture in the country, CNBC reported.

    There’s room for Apple to grow on the subcontinent: Apple has less than 5% of the smartphone market share in India, versus about 18% in China, said Angelo Zino, senior analyst at CFRA research. The bulk of smartphone sales in both countries use versions of the Android operating system created by Google.

    “As you look at India today, it’s very similar to China 15 or 20 years ago,” Zino said. “It’s really that natural wealth effect over time that’s going to help Apple really penetrate and see significantly higher revenue potential in India.”

    The opportunity could be massive: Apple did $74 billion in sales in China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan in fiscal 2022. That’s about 18% of Apple’s total revenue during the period.

    India is not there yet. It’s reported in a category with other markets called “rest of Asia Pacific,” which reported only $29 billion in sales during the same time period.

    Corporate filings in India covered by local media suggest that Apple’s sales in the country were about $4 billion in fiscal 2022, and Bloomberg reported earlier this week that Apple reported nearly $6 billion in sales in the year ending in March.

    Cook has also made the India-China comparison to investors.

    “We are, in essence, taking what we learned in China years ago and how we scale to China and bringing that to bear,” Cook said on an earnings call earlier this year.

    Nearly all Android

    India is the largest market that the iPhone hasn’t fully cracked, meaning it is critical for sales growth.

    Cook boasted in February that the company was successfully wooing “switchers” in the country. That’s Apple’s word for previous Android phone owners who have decided to buy their first iPhone. Cook said in February that Apple had its best sales quarter ever for iPhones in India in the quarter ending in December.

    Indians who buy iPhones are much more likely to be “switchers” than customers elsewhere because Android dominates the Indian market, led by Samsung and several Chinese brands. Android had over 95% of market share in the country, according to Statcounter.

    The main reason is price. Most phones sold in India are priced below even the least-expensive new Apple iPhone. Industry analyst IDC estimated in February that the average selling price of a smartphone in India is $224, which had increased 18% in 2022. Apple’s entry level phone — the iPhone SE — retails for $429 in the U.S.

    One way for Apple to address this gap is by allowing customers to pay for their phones in installments, or giving them a discount for trading in an older device. Cook mentioned these strategies when he was asked about India in February.

    “There’s been a lot done from financing options and trade-ins to make products more affordable and give people more options to buy,” Cook said.

    The two physical Apple stores opening this week and the online Apple store which launched in the country in 2020 are also expected to boost sales.

    ‘Make in India’

    The second part of the strategy is to build Apple products in the country, a massive project that requires not only Apple’s attention, but also efforts from its manufacturing partners and local and national governments.

    Nearly all iPhones are currently assembled in China, which has caused some problems over the past five years, starting with trade tensions and possible tariffs during the Trump administration, and extending to more recent supply chain disruptions caused by Covid and China’s Covid policies, which led to sales shortfalls.

    India could end up being a big winner as Apple looks for non-Chinese manufacturing options. In January, India’s commerce minister told CNBC that Apple was manufacturing its latest iPhone 14 in the country and had a goal to produce as many as 25% of all iPhones in the country.

    Apple’s primary manufacturing partner, Foxconn, which oversees a large portion of the assembly of new iPhones in China, is expanding in India, too, reportedly building a $700 million plant for iPhone parts in Bangalore.

    In another parallel to China, the Indian government is eager to embrace Apple and use it as a symbol to attract other high tech firms to the country for manufacturing and development. Over the past 20 years, Chinese governments at multiple levels have worked to make massive factories like Foxconn’s Zhengzhou factory — known as “iPhone City” — possible.

    Modi wants to discuss Apple’s plans for manufacturing around the country and creating manufacturing jobs, CNBC’s Seema Mody reported. He also wants to know about the challenges Apple has faced in growing its user base in the country.

    Not so fast

    This isn’t the first time that investors have been excited about Apple’s potential in India, and some analysts warn that it may take a while before it becomes a huge market.

    “I’ve told investors this: All the all the hype you’re hearing about India this week is great,” Zino said. “I mean, it is a massive opportunity in our view, over the next decade, but don’t expect things to change overnight.”

    Apple has also faced challenges in its early experiments manufacturing in the country, most notably at a Wistron factory in Bengalaru assembling older model iPhones, which erupted in a labor riot in late 2020.

    Apple has had its eyes on an India expansion since at least 2016, when Cook previously met Modi.

    At that meeting, Cook told Modi about the potential for manufacturing and retailing Apple goods in the country. Now, six years later, Cook is back in India to open up the company’s first two owned-and-operated retail stores.

    Apple was bullish on India back then, too: “India will be the most populous country in the world in 2022,” Cook told CNBC’s Jim Cramer at the time, saying it had “huge market potential.”

    Apple’s long-term strategy in India is best summarized by a quote Cook gave to local media during his 2016 trip to the subcontinent.

    “We are putting enormous energy in here, and we are not here for a quarter, or two quarters, or the next quarter, or the next year, or the next year, we are here for a thousand years,” Cook said.

    Apple opens first India retail store with Tim Cook on site

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  • India’s Rahul Gandhi accuses PM Modi of favoring Adani Group

    India’s Rahul Gandhi accuses PM Modi of favoring Adani Group

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    NEW DELHI (AP) — India’s top opposition leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday launched a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said he was being targeted because he has raised serious questions about Modi’s relationship with the Indian business conglomerate Adani Group.

    Gandhi said the objective of his expulsion from Parliament on Friday was to prevent him from speaking in the legislature about his allegation of an infusion of an unaccounted $3 billion into shell companies owned by the Adani Group, headed by Gautam Adani.

    ”Some of these defense companies are working in drone and missile development and ordnance production. Why is the defense ministry not asking questions,” he said.

    Gandhi was expelled from Parliament a day after a court convicted him of defamation and sentenced him to two years in prison for mocking the surname Modi in an election speech.

    The actions against Gandhi, the great-grandson of India’s first prime minister, were widely condemned by opponents of Modi as the latest assaults against democracy and free speech by a ruling government seeking to crush dissent. Removing Gandhi from politics delivered a major blow to the opposition party he led ahead of next year’s national elections.

    Gandhi said he was not bothered about losing his seat in Parliament. “My job is to defend the institutions of the country and the voice of people,” he added.

    A court in the western Indian city of Surat also sentenced him to two years in prison on Thursday. But he won’t go to jail immediately as the court granted bail for 30 days to file an appeal against the verdict.

    The court convicted Gandhi for a 2019 speech in which he asked, “Why do all thieves have Modi as their surname?” Gandhi then referred to three well-known and unrelated Modis in the speech: a fugitive Indian diamond tycoon, a cricket executive banned from the Indian Premier League tournament and the prime minister.

    On Saturday, Gandhi didn’t indicate how soon his legal team will approach an appeals court seeking to overturn his conviction so he could save his seat in Parliament.

    He accused Modi of helping the Adani Group to get contracts in India, Sri Lanka, and Australia.

    He also alleged that a Chinese national was involved in investments in Adani’s shell companies. “Why nobody is asking the question who this Chinese national is,” he said. ”Nobody knows where this money has come from. Adani couldn’t generate this money.”

    Gandhi has demanded a parliamentary committee probe following a report by Hindenburg Research, the U.S. financial research firm, accusing the Adani Group of stock price manipulation and fraud running into billions of dollars. The Adani Group has denied any wrongdoing and the Modi government has not accepted a call for a parliamentary investigation.

    Soon after Gandhi’s news conference, Ravi Shankar Prasad, a top leader of Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party, rejected Gandhi’s accusations and said his disqualification from Parliament had nothing to do with the Adani Group controversy.

    Since Modi became prime minister in 2014, Adani’s net worth has shot up nearly 2,000% to $125 billion, according to Bloomberg’s Billionaire Index. He surpassed Amazon boss Jeff Bezos to briefly become the world’s second richest man in September after a surge in the value of his seven listed entities.

    Adani’s businesses have won multibillion-dollar contracts to build ports, highways and power plants. The industrialist’s ambitions include developing drones and ammunition, key to the government’s goal of boosting military-related exports to $5 billion while slashing costs for expensive imports.

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  • ‘I am not scared’: Disqualified Gandhi will continue questioning Modi | CNN

    ‘I am not scared’: Disqualified Gandhi will continue questioning Modi | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    Indian opposition leader Rahul Gandhi said on Saturday he had been disqualified from parliament because he has been asking Prime Minister Narendra Modi tough questions about his relationship with Gautam Adani, founder of the Adani conglomerate.

    Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party responded saying Gandhi had been punished under the law for a defamatory comment he made in 2019 and it had nothing to do with the Adani issue.

    Gandhi, a former president of India’s main opposition Congress party who is still its main leader, lost his parliamentary seat on Friday, a day after a court in the western state of Gujarat convicted him in a defamation case and sentenced him to two years in jail.

    The court granted him bail and suspended his jail sentence for 30 days, allowing him to appeal.

    The defamation case was filed in connection with comments Gandhi made in a speech that many deemed insulting to Modi. Gandhi’s party and its allies have criticized the court ruling as politically motivated.

    “I have been disqualified because the prime minister is scared of my next speech, he is scared of the next speech that is going to come on Adani,” Gandhi told a news conference at the Congress party headquarters in New Delhi.

    “They don’t want that speech to be in parliament, that’s the issue,” Gandhi said in his first public comments since the conviction and disqualification.

    Gandhi, 52, the scion of a dynasty that has given India three prime ministers, did not elaborate on why Modi might not like his next speech.

    Gandhi’s once-dominant Congress controls less than 10% of the elected seats in parliament’s lower house and has been decimated by the BJP in two successive general elections, most recently in 2019.

    India’s next general election is due by mid-2024 and Gandhi has recently been trying to revive the party’s fortunes.

    “I am not scared of this disqualification … I will continue to ask the question, ‘what is the prime minister’s relationship with Mr Adani?’,” Gandhi said on Saturday.

    Modi’s rivals say the prime minister and the BJP have longstanding ties with the Adani group, going back nearly two decades when Modi was chief minister of the western state of Gujarat. Gautam Adani is also from Gujarat.

    The Congress party has questioned investments made by state-run firms in Adani companies and the handover of the management of six airports to the group in recent years, even though it had no experience in the sector.

    The Adani group has denied receiving any special favors from the government and government ministers have dismissed such opposition suggestions as “wild allegations”, saying regulators would look into any wrongdoing.

    Congress, and its opposition allies have called for a parliamentary investigation.

    “The life of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is an open book of honesty,” BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad told a news conference called in response to Gandhi’s statements on Saturday.

    “We don’t have to defend Adani, BJP never defends Adani, but BJP doesn’t target anyone either,” Prasad said, accusing Gandhi of habitually lying.

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  • India’s Supreme Court sets up panel to investigate Adani allegations

    India’s Supreme Court sets up panel to investigate Adani allegations

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    Signage of Adani Group at Adani Defence and Aerospace booth during the Aero India 2023 at Air Force Station Yelahanka in Bengaluru, India, on Monday, Feb. 13, 2023.

    Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images

    India’s supreme court has set up an independent panel to investigate if there were regulatory failures related to allegations against the Adani Group, after a bombshell report from a U.S. short seller.

    The country’s highest court directed a six member panel to probe “regulatory failure in dealing with the alleged contravention of laws pertaining to the securities market in relation to the Adani Group,” a Thursday court order said.

    The committee will also provide an “overall assessment of the situation including the relevant causal factors which have led to the volatility in the securities market in the recent past,” added the court order.

    In addition, the panel will suggest measures to strengthen the regulatory framework and “secure compliance with the existing framework for the protection of investors.”

    India’s Supreme Court action comes slightly over a month after Hindenburg Research released a lengthy report on Jan. 24, accusing Adani Group of stock manipulation and fraud. In a rebuttal that ran over 400 pages, the group denied any wrongdoing.

    The debacle led to a massive selloff in the Group’s stocks and has wiped out roughly $140 billion in market value from the seven largest listed companies under the conglomerate.

    The panel will be headed by Justice Sapre, a retired judge of the Supreme Court. The other members of the committee include OP Bhatt, KV Kamath, Nandan Nilekani and Somsekhar Sundaresan and retired Justice JP Devdhar.

    Stock manipulation?

    The Supreme Court has also directed the country’s markets regulator, the Securities and Exchange Board of India, to probe “whether there was any manipulation of stock prices in contravention of existing laws,” the court order said.

    “SEBI shall expeditiously conclude the investigation within two months and file a status report,” it added. 

    We won't be conservative when investing in India's infrastructure sector, says state insurer LIC

    India’s top court said its directive was prompted by the “loss of investor wealth in the securities market over the last few weeks because of a steep decline in the share price of the Adani Group of companies,” and a need to protect Indian investors from market volatility.

    Those petitions included requests to examine issues over “public money” being “at risk because public institutions like the State Bank of India and the Life Insurance Corporation of India are exposed to the Adani Group,” the court order said.

    Both institutions told CNBC recently that their exposure to the Adani Group was manageable.

    In a recent blog, Aswath Damodaran, finance professor at New York University’s Stern School of Business, argued the Adani Group has exploited the “weakest links” in India’s institutions to its advantage. He also said the Adani affair provides an opportunity for Indian institutions to learn lessons and try to fix the problems.

    Watch CNBC's full interview with NYU's 'Dean of Valuation' Aswath Damodaran on Adani and more

    “As for the institutions involved, which include banks, regulatory authorities and [Life Insurance Corporation], I have learned not to attribute to venality or corruption that which can be attributed to inertia and indifference,” the economist said on his blog.

    “A more nuanced version of the Adani story is that the family group has exploited the seams and weakest links in the India story, to its advantage,” he said, adding that “there are lessons for the nation as a whole, as it looks towards what it hopes will be its decade of growth.”

    Modi-Adani links

    Billionaire founder Gautam Adani, whose family runs the ports-to-energy conglomerate, said he welcomed the Supreme Court’s order.

    “The Adani Group welcomes the order of the Hon’ble Supreme Court,” Adani wrote on Twitter on Thursday. “It will bring finality in a time bound manner. Truth will prevail.”

    The mogul’s rapid downfall has sparked renewed scrutiny on his close ties with India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

    Last month, billionaire investor George Soros alleged the Adani turmoil will greatly weaken Modi’s grip on power and lead to a “democratic revival” in the country.

    Soros’ criticism, specifically, focused on the cozy relationship between Modi and Adani. Both men hail from India’s Western state of Gujarat. Adani was an early supporter of Modi’s political aspirations and championed the Indian leader’s growth vision for the country.

    “Modi and business tycoon Adani are close allies; their fate is intertwined. Adani Enterprises tried to raise funds in the stock market, but he failed,” said Soros.

    “Adani is accused of stock manipulation and his stock collapsed like a house of cards. Modi is silent on the subject, but he will have to answer questions from foreign investors and in parliament,” the investor added.

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  • Grand test for Indian diplomacy as American, Chinese and Russian ministers meet in Delhi | CNN

    Grand test for Indian diplomacy as American, Chinese and Russian ministers meet in Delhi | CNN

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    New Delhi
    CNN
     — 

    Foreign ministers from the world’s biggest economies convened in New Delhi Thursday in what was seen as a grand test for Indian diplomacy, which ultimately didn’t succeed in reaching a consensus because of Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

    In the second high-level ministerial meeting under India’s Group of 20 (G20) presidency this year, foreign minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, met his American, Chinese and Russian counterparts, hoping to find enough common ground to deliver a joint statement at the end of the summit.

    But amid festering divisions over Moscow’s war, New Delhi was unable to convince the leaders to put their differences aside, with Jaishankar admitting the conflict had struggled to unite the group.

    India, the world’s largest democracy with a population of more than 1.3 billion, has been keen to position itself as a leader of emerging and developing nations – often referred to as the Global South – at a time when soaring food and energy prices as a result of the war are hammering consumers already grappling with rising costs and inflation.

    Those sentiments were front and center during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s opening remarks earlier Thursday, when he spoke of multiples crises the world faces, with less wealthy nations hit especially hard.

    “The experience of the last few years, the financial crisis, climate change, the pandemic, terrorism and wars clearly shows that global governance has failed,” Modi said.

    “We must also admit that the tragic consequences of this failure are being faced most over by the developing countries,” who he says are most affected by global warming “caused by richer countries”.

    Eluding to the war in Ukraine, Modi acknowledged the conflict was causing “deep global divisions.” But he encouraged the foreign ministers to put differences aside during their meeting Thursday.

    “We should not allow issues that we cannot resolve together to come in the way of those we can,” he said.

    US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with his Russian counterpart, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on the sidelines of the summit, according to a State Department official traveling with Blinken.

    Blinken and Lavrov spoke for roughly 10 minutes, the same official said.

    Russian Ministry of Foreign affairs spokeswoman Maria Zakharova confirmed to CNN that the meeting took place but played down its significance.

    “Blinken asked for contact with Lavrov. On the go, as part of the second session of the twenty, Sergey Viktorovich (Lavrov) talked. There were no negotiations, meetings, etc,” she said.

    Deep disagreements over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine played out in the southern Indian city of Bengaluru last month as well, when G20 finance chiefs failed to agree on a statement after their meeting.

    Both Russia and China declined to sign the joint statement, which criticized Moscow’s invasion. That left India to issue a “chair’s summary and outcome document” in which it summed up the two days of talks and acknowledged disagreements.

    Analysts say that throughout the war New Delhi has deftly balanced its ties to Russia and the West, with Modi emerging as a leader who has been courted by all sides.

    But as the war enters its second year, and tensions continue to rise, pressure could mount on countries, including India, to take a firmer stand against Russia – putting Modi’s statecraft to the test.

    Arguably India’s most celebrated event of the year, the G20 summit has been heavily promoted domestically, with sprawling billboards featuring Modi’s face plastered across the country. Roads have been cleaned and buildings freshly painted ahead of the dignitaries’ visit.

    Taking place in the “mother of democracies” under Modi’s leadership, his political allies have been keen to push his international credentials, portraying him as a key player in the global order.

    Last year’s G20 leaders’ summit in Bali, Indonesia, issued a joint declaration that echoed what Modi had told Russian President Vladimir Putin weeks earlier on the sidelines of a regional summit in Uzbekistan.

    “Today’s era must not be of war,” it said, prompting media and officials in India to claim India had played a vital role in bridging differences between an isolated Russia and the United States and its allies.

    A board decorated with flowers welcomes foreign ministers to New Delhi, India, on February 28, 2023.

    India, analysts say, prides itself on its ability to balance relations. The country, like China, has refused to condemn Moscow’s brutal assault on Ukraine in various United Nations resolutions. Rather than cutting economic ties with the Kremlin, India has undermined Western sanctions by increasing its purchases of Russian oil, coal and fertilizer.

    But unlike China, India has grown closer to the West – particularly the US – despite ties with Russia.

    New Delhi’s ties with Moscow date back to the Cold War, and the country remains heavily reliant on the Kremlin for military equipment – a vital link given India’s ongoing tensions with China at its shared Himalayan border.

    The US and India have taken steps in recent months to strengthen their defense partnership, as the two sides attempt to counter the rise of an increasingly assertive China.

    Daniel Markey, senior adviser, South Asia, for the United States Institute of Peace (USIP), said while India’s leaders “would like to facilitate an end to this conflict that preserves New Delhi’s relations with both Washington and Moscow and ends the disruption of the global economy,” India did not have “any particular leverage” with Russia or Ukraine that would make a settlement likely.

    “I believe that other world leaders are equally interested in playing a peace-making diplomatic role. So when and if Putin wishes to come to the table to negotiate, he will have no shortage of diplomats hoping to help,” he said.

    Still, as Putin’s aggression continues to throw the global economy into chaos, India has signaled an intention to raise the many concerns faced by the global South, including climate challenges and food and energy security, according to Modi’s opening speech earlier Thursday.

    “The world looks upon the G20 to ease the challenges of growth, development, economic resilience, disaster resilience, financial stability, transnational crime, corruption, terrorism, and food and energy security,” Modi said.

    While Modi’s government appears keen to prioritize domestic challenges, experts say these issues could be sidelined by the tensions between the US, Russia and China, which have increased recently over concerns from Washington that Beijing is considering sending lethal aid to the Kremlin’s struggling war effort.

    Speaking to reporters last week, Ramin Toloui, the US assistant secretary of state for economic and business affairs, said while Secretary of State Antony Blinken would highlight its efforts to address food and energy security issues, he would also “underscore the damage that Russia’s war of aggression has caused.”

    Blinken will “encourage all G20 partners to redouble their calls for a just, peaceful, and lasting end to the Kremlin’s war consistent with UN Charter principles,” Toloui said.

    At the same time, Russia in a statement Wednesday accused the US and the European Union of “terrorism,” stating it was “set to clearly state Russia’s assessments” of the current food and energy crisis.

    “We will draw attention to the destructive barriers that the West is multiplying exponentially to block the export of goods that are of critical importance to the global economy, including energy sources and agricultural products,” Russia said, hinting at the difficulties New Delhi might face during the meeting.

    India has “worked very hard not to be boxed into one side or the other,” Markey said. The country could not “afford to alienate Russia or the US and Modi doesn’t want discussion of the war to force any difficult decisions or to distract from other issues, like green, sustainable economic development,” he added.

    But with plummeting ties between Washington and Beijing after the US military shot down what it says was a Chinese spy balloon that flew over American territory, New Delhi will have to carefully drive difficult negotiations between conflicting viewpoints.

    China maintains the balloon, which US forces downed in February, was a civilian research aircraft accidentally blown off course, and the fallout led Blinken to postpone a planned visit to Beijing.

    As differences played out during the ministerial meeting Thursday, analysts say while India will be disappointed at the outcome, they were in a very difficult position to begin with.

    “It will be a disappointment for Modi, but not one that cannot be managed,” Markey said. “Nor would it be India’s fault, as it would primarily be a reflection of the underlying differences over which Modi has very little control.”

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  • India’s opposition vows to keep ‘raising questions about Adani group’ after spokesperson arrested | CNN

    India’s opposition vows to keep ‘raising questions about Adani group’ after spokesperson arrested | CNN

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    New Delhi
    CNN
     — 

    When dozens of security personnel crowded onto the runway of New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi Airport on Thursday, it was not to capture a terrorist or fleeing criminal mastermind, or even to apprehend an unruly passenger.

    It was to arrest an opposition politician who had allegedly “disturbed harmony” — by misstating the Prime Minister’s middle name.

    Pawan Khera, the spokesperson for the Congress party, had been on his way to his party’s national convention when he was forced off his plane and arrested by police.

    His alleged crime? Disturbing communal harmony by making a jibe at Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whom he had referred to on live TV last week as “Narendra Gautamdas Modi” in reference to embattled business magnate Gautam Adani.

    Adani, seen as a close ally of Modi and one of the wealthiest people in the world, saw his net worth halved in less than two weeks last month after a report by financial research firm Hindenburg leveled allegations of stock market manipulation and fraud against the Adani Group. The Adani Group condemned the report as “baseless” and “malicious.”

    Police from the state of Assam said they had deployed a team to New Delhi to arrest Khera for questioning after a case was registered on Wednesday for his “objectionable remarks about the Prime Minister.”

    “[Khera] was trying to disturb the communal harmony in society, (according to) sections of the Indian Penal Code under criminal conspiracy,” Prasanta Kumar Bhuyan, Assam police spokesperson, told CNN.

    But the arrest of Khera has set the stage for a dramatic showdown between India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress party, which has accused the government of stiffling dissent in the world’s largest democracy of 1.3 billion people.

    Scores of Congress politicians responded to the arrest by sitting on the airstrip in protest. Khera was released hours later, after India’s Supreme Court ordered him to be released on interim bail. But his brief detention set off a media frenzy in the country, dominating prime time news and headlines.

    Speaking to reporters after his release on Thursday, Khera said he was “asked to deplane as if I was a terrorist.”

    “This is not the only example of people’s rights and liberties being curtailed. Today it’s me, tomorrow it could be anyone,” he said.

    Congress member Supriya Shrinate, who was traveling with Khera at the time of his arrest, added, “If this isn’t tyranny, then what is?”

    The Congress party said in a statement that Khera’s arrest was “undemocratic,” and “arbitrary,” adding: “We vehemently oppose this dictatorial behavior.”

    “This charade is not going to deter us from raising questions” about the Adani group and its alleged ties to Modi, it said.

    CNN has contacted a BJP national spokesperson for a comment but has not yet had a response.

    Speaking to Indian news channel NDTV late Thursday, the BJP chief minister of Assam, Himanta Biswa Sarma, said: “Police have all the rights to arrest (Khera).

    Khera’s arrest comes weeks after the country banned a documentary from the BBC that was critical of the Prime Minister’s alleged role in deadly riots more than 20 years ago. Indian tax authorities raided the BBC’s offices in New Delhi and Mumbai earlier this month citing “irregularities and discrepancies” in the BBC’s taxes. The BBC defended its documentary and said it was complying with the tax investigation.

    Days before Khera’s arrest, Sarma, the Assam chief minister, had warned there would be consequences to his remarks about Modi.

    “India will not forget or forgive these horrible remarks of Congressmen,” he wrote on Twitter on Monday.

    CNN has not yet been able to reach Khera and his lawyers.

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  • India hits back after George Soros says Adani troubles will greatly weaken Modi’s grip on power

    India hits back after George Soros says Adani troubles will greatly weaken Modi’s grip on power

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    NDIA – JANUARY 18: Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Gautam Adani, chairman and founder of the Adani Group, and other delegates at Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit, at Mahatma Mandir Exhibition cum Convention Centre, on January 18, 2019 in Gandhinagar, India.

    Hindustan Times | | Getty Images

    India slammed billionaire investor George Soros after he alleged the Adani turmoil will weaken Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s grip on power and lead to a “democratic revival” in the country.

    The latest dispute highlights renewed scrutiny on the relationship between India’s leader and business tycoon Gautam Adani, who has lost billions in net worth since a short seller report accused his companies of fraud. The Adani Group has denied those allegations, calling the report a “calculated attack on India.”

    Last week, Soros criticized the prime minister saying India was a democracy but Modi “is no democrat.” Over the weekend, India’s foreign minister, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, told a conference in Sydney that Soros’ comments were typical of a “Euro-Atlantic view” and rejected his accusations.

    “There are still people in the world who believe that their definition, their preferences, their views must override everything else,” Jaishankar said.

    He added there was “a debate and conversation that we must have on democracy,” including whose values defined a democracy as the world rebalanced and became less Euro-Atlantic.

    “He is old, rich, opinionated and dangerous, because what happens is, when such people and such views and such organizations — they actually invest resources in shaping narratives” Jaishankar said in a response to a question about the billionaire’s remarks.

    India’s voters will decide “how the country should [be] run,” the foreign minister said.

    “It worries us. We are a country that went through colonialism. We know the dangers of what happens when there’s outside interference,” Jaishankar added.

    Modi-Adani ‘close allies’

    Soros’ criticism focused on the cozy relationship between Modi and Adani.

    “Modi and business tycoon Adani are close allies; their fate is intertwined. Adani Enterprises tried to raise funds in the stock market, but he failed,” said Soros.

    Both men hail from India’s Western state of Gujarat. Adani was an early supporter of Modi’s political aspirations and championed the Indian leader’s growth vision for the country. Modi flew in an Adani jet after he was elected to national office in 2014. 

    But Adani lost his crown as Asia’s wealthiest man in a matter of days after short-seller firm Hindenburg Research alleged fraud. The Adani Group has denied wrongdoing and fired back at the firm in an over 400-page rebuttal.

    “Adani is accused of stock manipulation and his stock collapsed like a house of cards. Modi is silent on the subject, but he will have to answer questions from foreign investors and in parliament,” Soros said.

    The billionaire predicted Adani’s troubles will “significantly weaken Modi’s stranglehold on India’s federal government” and “open the door to push for much needed institutional reforms.”  

    “I may be naive, but I expect a democratic revival in India,” Soros said.

    The Hungarian-born investor is the founder of the Open Society Foundations advocacy network, through which he has donated more than $32 billion, according to its website. The network said it gives “thousands of grants every year toward building inclusive and vibrant democracies,” with active projects in more than 120 countries.

    Adani’s fall draws fire

    Opposition critics have also seized on the Hindenburg report to attack Modi and his party ahead of national elections set for next year. India’s main opposition Congress party has staged protests and demanded an investigation into Hindenburg’s allegations. 

    However, the opposition party was quick to distance itself from Soros’ comments.

    “Whether the PM-linked Adani scam sparks a democratic revival in India depends entirely on the Congress, opposition parties and our electoral process,” tweeted Jairam Ramesh, Congress’ general secretary. “It has NOTHING to do with George Soros.”

    Politically, it’s hard to predict what effect, if any, the Adani scrutiny will have on Modi’s popularity and his ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, observers said.

    Still, the relationship between Modi and Adani is “so long and strong” it will be tough for the prime minister and his party to wriggle out of this crisis unscathed, Ashok Swain, head of the department of peace and conflict research at Uppsala University in Sweden told CNBC recently.

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  • Uncontacted tribes and an Indian military base. Did a ‘spy’ balloon snoop on the Andaman and Nicobar islands? | CNN

    Uncontacted tribes and an Indian military base. Did a ‘spy’ balloon snoop on the Andaman and Nicobar islands? | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    When a strange white sphere appeared in the skies above the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in January 2022, it swiftly became a talking point in this sleepy Indian Ocean archipelago of 430,000 people.

    Hundreds of members of the public spotted the strange object, which looked a little like a full moon, and were eager to speculate on what it was, reported local media. But “high-altitude surveillance balloon” didn’t seem high on many people’s guess list.

    Many suggested it was a weather balloon; others, including local news outlet the Andaman Sheekha, thought that made no sense, ruling out the possibility on the grounds of the object’s shape, height, and photographs showing what appeared to be “eight dark panels” hanging from it.

    Some did suggest spying might be involved, but that too seemed a strange explanation.

    Under the headline, “Unidentified Flying Object over Port Blair city triggers curiosity and rumor,” the Sheekha posed a question: “In this age of ultra advanced satellites, who will use a flying object to spy?”

    That question, experts say, has taken on a greater resonance this month, after the United States shot down a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon that spent days over American territory, including apparently lingering over nuclear missile silos in Montana.

    US intelligence officials say the balloon – which China insists was a civilian weather research vessel – was part of an extensive Chinese surveillance program run from the island province of Hainan that has flown balloons over at least five continents in recent years.

    Other governments have also raised concerns. Soon after the balloon was spotted over the US, Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry said the incident “should not be tolerated by the civilized international community,” adding it had experienced Chinese balloons flying over its territory in September 2021 and again in February 2022.

    Japan meanwhile said it “strongly presumed” that three “balloon-shaped flying objects” detected in its airspace between November 2019 and September 2021 were “unmanned reconnaissance” aircraft flown by China.

    But India – which administers the Andaman and Nicobar Islands – has remained conspicuously silent, despite questions being raised by the Indian media.

    “Mystery balloon hovered over Andaman and Nicobar Islands around tri-service military drill,” reported India Today; “Chinese spy balloons, UFOs trigger paranoia among countries. Should India be worried?” asked Live Mint. “Reports Suggest India Was Targeted by Chinese Balloon Too,” ran a headline in The Wire; “Did a Chinese ‘spy’ balloon snoop on India too?” asked Firstpost.

    China, meanwhile, has strongly denied running a balloon surveillance program. It maintains the vessel downed by the US was a weather balloon thrown off course and has also rejected Tokyo’s claims. Beijing said it firmly opposed “the Japanese side’s smear campaign against China” and said Japan should “stop following the US” by engaging in “deliberate speculation.”

    “China is a responsible country that strictly abides by international law and respects the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries. (We) hope that all parties will look at it objectively,” China’s Foreign Ministry said in response to a question from CNN about whether the country had ever used balloons to spy on India.

    The high-altitude balloon spotted above the United States.

    But to many onlookers, the silence from New Delhi on the matter has been as baffling as the balloon-like object was to the readers of the Andaman Sheekha.

    “I think (the Indian) government is being silent about it for the simple fact that (it) was unable to do anything about it,” said Sushant Singh, a senior fellow at New Delhi-based think tank Center for Policy Research.

    “If it were to say that a spy balloon was found over the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, which is seen as a great bastion of Indian sovereignty, it would show the government in a very poor light.”

    India will come under the international spotlight this year as it hosts two high-level summits – the G20 and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization – and it is “desperately keen” for them to go well, Singh said.

    Indian prime minister Narendra Modi arrives for the G20 summit in Nusa Dua, on the Indonesian resort island of Bali on November 15, 2022.

    And with a general election on the horizon in 2024, its leader Narendra Modi will be eager to look tough in the eyes of voters who swept him into power on a ticket of nationalism and a promise of India’s future greatness.

    Acknowledging that a UFO – which may or may not have been spying – had floated above an archipelago that hosts a significant Indian military presence would compromise that message.

    “Raising this issue of the balloon,” simply wouldn’t be in New Delhi’s interest, Singh concluded. “As a nationalist government, it would completely destroy and demolish its image within the country.”

    But Manoj Kewalramani, a fellow of China studies at the Takshashila Institution in India, said silence was simply more New Delhi’s style.

    “Historically, India has never spoken about these issues,” he said. “If the US has briefed India on the Chinese spying program, India will very careful about what they reveal, so as to not tarnish that relationship.”

    CNN reached out to the Indian government for comment on this article but did not receive a response.

    The Andaman and Nicobar Islands may seem an unlikely target for international espionage.

    The remote, sleepy archipelago at the junction of the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea lies about 100 miles (160 kilometers) north of Aceh, Indonesia, and more than 1,800 miles (2,900 kilometers) from the Indian capital New Delhi. Only a few dozen of its more than 500 islands are even inhabited.

    India's Andaman and Nicobar islands

    There is little commerce to speak of beyond fishing villages, and while the sandy beaches and rich biodiversity have made some of the islands popular with tourists, others are so remote they are home to uncontacted tribes.

    In 2018, an American missionary, John Allen Chau, is thought to have been killed by the Sentinelese tribe after he arrived on North Sentinel Island, hoping to convert them to Christianity. In 2006, members of the same tribe killed two fishermen poachers whose boat drifted ashore. Two years earlier, one of its members was photographed firing arrows at a helicopter sent to check on their welfare following the Asian tsunami. Protection groups have urged the public to respect their wish to remain uncontacted.

    But as obscure and remote as these islands may be, there are reasons they might be of interest to foreign intelligence agencies.

    In this undated photo released by the Anthropological Survey of India, Sentinelese tribe men row their canoe in India's Andaman and Nicobar archipelago.

    As a major outpost in the Indian Ocean, the islands join the Bay of Bengal with the wider Indo-Pacific, via the Malacca Strait – one of the busiest and most important trade routes in the world.

    The location also makes the islands a strategic military asset for India, and they are home to the only integrated tri-service (army, navy, air force) base of the Indian armed forces.

    In recent years, New Delhi has poured great effort into enhancing the islands’ prospects as a military base, with Modi in 2019 unveiling a decade-long plan to add more troops, warships and aircraft to its existing fleet.

    “The islands are used for military deployment and dominate the area,” said Singh, from the Center for Policy Research. “Various Indian military leaders have described the islands as an ‘unsinkable carrier.’”

    In the event of a military clash between China and the US over Taiwan, Singh said, “the US could ask India for support from the islands.”

    “India has also been very protective about the islands. Very rarely have they allowed foreign military to exercise on land on these islands,” he added.

    Kewalramani, from the Takshashila Institution, said China “would want to know what’s happening on the (Andaman and Nicobar) islands.”

    However, he also said it remained unclear “whether they would do that through a balloon and whether a balloon could gather enough intel.”

    To many commentators, the whole saga is less about what may or may not have been a surveillance balloon, and more about the Modi government’s reticence to engage on issues involving China for fear of sparking a diplomatic crisis ahead of next year’s Indian election.

    While there may be some sensitive military secrets to be gleaned from Andaman and Nicobar islands, analysts suggest the real reason for tight lips in New Delhi may be connected to what is happening thousands of miles to the north, along India’s 2,100-mile (3,380-kilometer) disputed border with China.

    It’s here in the thin air and freezing temperatures of the Himalayas that troops from the two nuclear-armed neighbors have clashed over the past few years, in what are startling reminders of India and China’s combustible relationship.

    Tensions along the de factor border have been simmering for more than 60 years and have spilled over into war before. In 1962 a month-long conflict ended in a Chinese victory and India losing thousands of square miles of territory.

    But rarely in recent years have those tensions been as high as they are now. Since a clash involving hand-to-hand fighting in 2020 claimed the lives of at least 20 Indian and four Chinese soldiers, both sides have deployed thousands of troops to the area, where they remain in what appears to be a semi-permanent stand-off.

    This general view shows a monastery in Tawang near the Line of Actual Control (LAC), neighbouring China, in the northeast Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh on October 20, 2021. (Photo by Money SHARMA / AFP) (Photo by MONEY SHARMA/AFP via Getty Images)

    Why do India and China spar at the border?

    “The whole character of the border changed in 2020. China did something that they had not done before … they came into occupied areas … and refused to withdraw,” said former Lt. Gen. Rakesh Sharma, whose more than 40 years in the Indian army included a stint commanding the Fire and Fury Corps in the Ladakh area of the border.

    There are now signs things may be heating up once again, according to Arzan Tarapore, South Asia research scholar at Stanford University’s Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center.

    A brawl between troops from the two sides in December – what the Indian government characterized as a “physical scuffle” – was “part of the steady drumbeat of China building its military presence, asserting its control over disputed areas, and probing Indian defenses,” Tarapore said.

    “It was just one episode in a string of episodes, and India should certainly expect more – and probably bigger – such probes and incursions in the future,” he added.

    With the border issue heating up, analysts say Modi faces a difficult diplomatic balancing act.

    On one hand, he needs to project a strong image to voters and show he is willing to stand his ground against China’s pressure at the border.

    On the other, he must be careful to avoid inflaming the already tense relationship with Beijing by wading into China’s dispute with Washington over the balloon shot down off the US East Coast.

    One reading of India’s silence may be that is adopting Theodore Roosevelt’s famous foreign policy maxim of, “Speak softly, and carry a big stick.”

    New Delhi recently announced a 13% hike in its annual defense budget to 5.94 trillion rupees ($72.6 billion) – which is expected to fund, among other things, new access roads and fighter jets to be based along the disputed border.

    In this photograph provided by the Indian Army, tanks pull back from the banks of Pangong Tso lake region, in Ladakh along the India-China border on Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2021.

    But, as with the UFO in the Andaman and Nicobars, experts say New Delhi sometimes gives the impression that the less said about the border the better.

    Kenneth Juster, a former US ambassador to India, told Indian television channel Times Now that New Delhi preferred Washington not to comment on Chinese aggression at the Himalayan border.

    “The restraint in mentioning China in any US-India communication or any Quad communication comes from India, which is very concerned about not poking China in the eye,” he said, referring to discussions of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue – a strategic US-led group that includes India, Japan and Australia and that Beijing is convinced is aimed at containing China’s rise.

    Modi has largely avoided speaking publicly on the border issue, going as far as saying on live television shortly after the deadly 2020 clashes that, “No one has intruded and nor is anyone intruding.”

    “He wants the crisis to go away. His reaction is to avoid talking about it,” said Singh, the analyst. “Propaganda and PR have led many Indians to believe that things (at the disputed border) are OK.”

    Kewalramani, the China expert, said India simply preferred a lower-key approach in pushing back against Beijing, noting it had cracked down on Chinese businesses, including by banning some Chinese apps.

    “While there aren’t huge gestures, it is part of India’s diplomatic culture to avoid aggression,” he said.

    The problem with that approach, others warned, was that it risked making India appear weak.

    “Considering that a crisis on the border is still ongoing, and continues to haunt India and China, the silence does not bode well for India,” Singh said.

    “It emboldens China.”

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