India seeks to strengthen energy ties with Saudi Arabia during Modi’s visit

Special India seeks to strengthen energy ties with Saudi Arabia during Modi’s visit
India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi, right, shakes hand with Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman ahead of the G20 Leaders' Summit in New Delhi on Sept.9, 2023. (AFP)
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Updated 20 April 2025
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India seeks to strengthen energy ties with Saudi Arabia during Modi’s visit

India seeks to strengthen energy ties with Saudi Arabia during Modi’s visit
  • Saudi-India trade worth nearly $43bn in 2023-24; energy alone worth $25.7bn
  • Modi, crown prince to co-chair second meeting of Saudi-India Strategic Partnership Council 

NEW DELHI: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will travel to Saudi Arabia on Tuesday for his third visit, as India seeks to strengthen strategic ties with the Kingdom, particularly in the energy sector.

During his two-day trip, Modi is scheduled to meet Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Jeddah, where they will hold bilateral talks and co-chair the second meeting of the Saudi-India Strategic Partnership Council.

“The visit is important also on account of the obvious significance of Saudi Arabia as a strategic partner for India … Saudi Arabia is a leading voice in the Islamic world, and is increasingly playing an important role in regional developments,” Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri told a press briefing on Saturday.

As premier, Modi made his first trip to Saudi Arabia in 2016. Following the crown prince’s first visit to India in February 2019, the Indian leader made his second trip to the Kingdom that October, when the two countries established the Strategic Partnership Council.

In 2023-24, Saudi-India trade reached nearly $43 billion, making India Saudi Arabia’s second-largest trading partner, while the Kingdom stands as New Delhi’s fifth-largest.

Saudi Arabia is “a key player” in India’s energy scenario, Misri said.

“We are looking at infusing an even more strategic outlook in the energy partnership between the two countries. And we expect that the forthcoming visit will have some developments related to this as well,” he added.

Bilateral energy trade alone was worth $25.7 billion in 2023-24, with Saudi Arabia being the third-largest source of India’s LPG, crude and petroleum imports.

Modi’s upcoming visit is a follow-up to the crown prince’s trip to India in 2023, when he attended the summit of the Group of 20 biggest economies.

This was followed by the crown prince’s state visit, which saw the two leaders co-chairing the first meeting of the Strategic Partnership Council, and both countries signing around 50 initial pacts and agreeing to form a joint task force for a $100 billion Saudi investment in India.

“This is a very important visit as Saudi Arabia is one of the most important partners of India in the Gulf and Middle East region,” Muddassir Qamar, associate professor at the Center for West Asian Studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University, told Arab News on Sunday.

“It is also important as the visit to Saudi Arabia comes at a time of great regional turbulence and uncertainty in international politics, given that Saudi Arabia and India are two of the G20 members and have a similarity of views in regional and global issues.”

Two-way flow of investments, energy security, food security and defense cooperation are likely to be high on the agenda, he said, adding that discussions on the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor Agreement are likely to be “top on the priority list,” referring to the trade connectivity plan.

As both countries are working on their respective development plans, namely the Saudi Vision 2030 and India’s Viksit Bharat 2047, they have “ample opportunities to collaborate among businesses and the private sector” across various sectors, including energy, logistics and infrastructure, he added.

Modi’s trip will also boost India’s role in geopolitics, according to Mohammed Soliman, senior fellow at the Middle East Institute in Washington D.C.

“Modi’s visit to Saudi Arabia marks a pivotal moment in the deepening of the India-Saudi strategic partnership — strengthening economic ties with $40 billion in trade, securing vital energy supplies, and elevating India’s voice in West Asian geopolitics,” he told Arab News. 

“The visit positions India as a key player in West Asia.” 


Detained ex-President Duterte is among candidates running in Philippines’ midterm elections

Detained ex-President Duterte is among candidates running in Philippines’ midterm elections
Updated 23 sec ago
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Detained ex-President Duterte is among candidates running in Philippines’ midterm elections

Detained ex-President Duterte is among candidates running in Philippines’ midterm elections
  • Duterte has been in custody of the International Criminal Court in The Hague since March, awaiting trial for crimes against humanity
  • Duterte is widely expected to win as Davao mayor, a position he held for over two decades before becoming president

MANILA: Even though he is detained thousands of kilometers away, former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is among the candidates vying for some 18,000 national and local seats in Monday’s midterm elections that analysts say will decide if he and his family continue to hold political power.
Duterte has been in custody of the International Criminal Court in The Hague since March, awaiting trial for crimes against humanity over a brutal war on illegal drugs that has left thousands of suspects dead during his presidency 2016-2022. It hasn’t stopped him from running for mayor of his southern Davao city stronghold.
Under Philippine law, candidates facing criminal charges, including those in detention, can run for office unless they have been convicted and have exhausted all appeals.
Duterte is widely expected to win as Davao mayor, a position he held for over two decades before becoming president. It’s less clear how he can practically serve as mayor from behind bars.
Over 68 million Filipinos have registered to vote Monday for half of the 24-member Senate, all the 317 seats in the House of Representatives and various positions in provinces, cities and municipalities. The spotlight is on the race for the Senate that could determine the political future of Duterte’s daughter, Vice President Sara Duterte.
She faces an impeachment trial in the Senate in July over accusations of plotting to assassinate President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and corruption involving her office’s intelligence funds. She has denied the allegations, saying they were spread by her political opponents to destroy her.
Sara Duterte is considered as a strong contender for the 2028 presidential race. But if convicted by the Senate, she will be removed as vice president and disqualified from holding public office. To be acquitted, she needs at least nine of 24 senators to vote in her favor.
“The 2025 midterm elections will be crucial, because the results will set the pace for what will happen next, which family or faction will dominate the elections in 2028,” said Maria Ela Atienza, a political science professor at the University of the Philippines.
If Sara Duterte is convicted in the impeachment trial, it could signal the end of the Duterte family holding key positions in the country, she said. Other family members running in the election include Rodrigo Duterte’s youngest son, Sebastian, the incumbent mayor of Davao who is now running for vice mayor. His eldest son Paolo is seeking reelection as a member of the House of Representatives. Two grandsons are also running in local races.
The impeachment and Rodrigo Duterte’s arrest and transfer to the tribunal in The Hague came after Marcos and Sara Duterte’s ties unraveled over political differences.
“This election will decide the future of our country,” Sara Duterte said in a rally in Manila last week, where she campaigned for the family-backed senatorial candidates and criticized the Marcos administration. “Your vote will decide if we can continue reforms or continue to slide to our doom.”
Her father’s spiritual adviser and close political ally, televangelist Apollo Quiboloy, is also running for a Senate seat despite being detained on charges of sexual abuse and human trafficking. He is also wanted in the US on similar charges.


Trump says will sign order aimed at cutting US drug prices

Trump says will sign order aimed at cutting US drug prices
Updated 1 min 29 sec ago
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Trump says will sign order aimed at cutting US drug prices

Trump says will sign order aimed at cutting US drug prices
  • “They will rise throughout the World in order to equalize and, for the first time in many years, bring FAIRNESS TO AMERICA!” Trump wrote in a social media post

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump unveiled plans Sunday for a new policy on pharmaceuticals he claimed would reduce US prescription drug prices by between 30 and 80 percent.

“They will rise throughout the World in order to equalize and, for the first time in many years, bring FAIRNESS TO AMERICA!” Trump wrote in a social media post, adding he planned to sign an executive order bringing the new policy into effect at 9:00 am (1300 GMT) on Monday.

Trump said he planned to institute a “MOST FAVORED NATION’S” policy that pinned the cost of drugs sold in the United States to the lowest price paid by other countries for the same drug.

The reduction in prescription drug costs in the United States would, he added, be counterbalanced by higher costs in other countries.

“Most favored nation” status is a World Trade Organization rule that aims to prevent discrimination between a country and its trading partners, levelling the playing field for international trade.

The White House did not immediately respond to an AFP request for details of the plan.

This is not the first time that Trump has attempted to lower US drug prices.

During his first 2017-2021 term in office, he announced a similar proposal to cut US drug prices but his plans failed in the face of strong opposition from the pharmaceutical industry.

Last month, the US president signed an executive order aiming to lower crippling drug prices by giving states more leeway to bargain-hunt abroad and improving the process for price negotiations.


Indian military warns Pakistan against ceasefire violations

Indian military warns Pakistan against ceasefire violations
Updated 36 min 25 sec ago
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Indian military warns Pakistan against ceasefire violations

Indian military warns Pakistan against ceasefire violations
  • Pakistan called and sought ceasefire, Indian military says
  • Nuclear-armed neighbors blame each other for overnight violations
  • Residents in some border areas told not to return home just yet

NEW DELHI/ MUZAFFARABAD, Pakistan: The Indian military sent a “hotline message” to Pakistan on Sunday about violations of a ceasefire agreed this week and informed it of New Delhi’s intent to respond if it was repeated, a top Indian army officer said, while the Pakistan military’s spokesman denied any violation of the ceasefire.
India’s Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) was speaking as a fragile 24-hour-old ceasefire appeared to be holding after both sides blamed the other for initial violations on Saturday night.
Pakistan’s military spokesman said, “No violation is being made by the Pakistan army or armed forces of the ceasefire,” during a press conference with representation from the country’s air force and navy.
The truce announced on Saturday followed four days of intense fighting between the nuclear-armed neighbors. In the worst fighting in nearly three decades, they fired missiles and drones at each other’s military installations, killing almost 70 people.

 

Diplomacy and pressure from the United States helped secure the ceasefire deal when it seemed that the conflict was spiralling alarmingly. But within hours of its coming into force, artillery fire was witnessed in Indian Kashmir, the center of much of last week’s fighting.
Blasts from air-defense systems boomed in cities near the border under a blackout, similar to those heard during the previous two evenings, according to local authorities, residents and Reuters witnesses.
“Sometimes, these understandings take time to fructify, manifest on the ground,” Lt. Gen. Rajiv Ghai, the Indian DGMO, told a media briefing, referring to the truce. “The (Indian) armed forces were on a very very high alert (yesterday) and continue to be in that state.”
The Indian army chief had given a mandate to its commanders to deal with “violations of any kind” from across the borders in the best way they deem fit, Ghai added.
He said his Pakistani counterpart called him on Saturday afternoon and proposed the two countries “cease hostilities” and urgently requested a ceasefire.

Following India’s request for a call after carrying out military attacks in Pakistan between May 6 and 7, and on the intervention of international interlocutors, Pakistan responded on May 10 to the earlier made request, said Pakistan’s military spokesman.
Late on Saturday, the Pakistani foreign ministry had said that it was committed to the truce agreement and blamed India for the violations.
US President Donald Trump announced the ceasefire on Saturday, saying it was reached after talks mediated by Washington.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said India and Pakistan had also agreed to start talks on “a broad set of issues at a neutral site.”
While Islamabad has thanked Washington for facilitating the ceasefire and welcomed Trump’s offer to mediate on the Kashmir dispute with India, New Delhi has not commented on US involvement in the truce or talks at a neutral site.

Demonstrators carrying posters with portraits of Pakistan's Chief of Army Staff General Syed Asim Munir shout slogans as they participate in an anti-India protest in Lahore on May 11, 2025. (AFP)

India maintains that disputes with Pakistan have to be resolved directly by the two countries and rejects any third party involvement.
On Sunday, Trump praised the leaders of both countries for agreeing to halt the aggression and said he would “substantially” increase trade with them.
Hindu-majority India and Muslim-majority Pakistan each rule a part of Kashmir but claim it in full, and have twice gone to war over the Himalayan region.
India blames Pakistan for an insurgency in its part of the territory, but Pakistan says it provides only moral, political and diplomatic support to Kashmiri separatists.

Picking up the pieces
Among those most affected by the fighting were residents on either side of the border, many of whom fled their homes when the fighting began on Wednesday, two weeks after a deadly attack in Indian Kashmir’s Pahalgam that India said was backed by Islamabad.
Pakistan denied the accusation.

In the Indian border city of Amritsar, home to the Golden Temple revered by Sikhs, people returned to the streets on Sunday morning after a siren sounded to signal a return to normal activities following the tension of recent days.
“Ever since the terrorists attacked people in Pahalgam, we have been shutting our shops very early and there was an uncertainty. I am happy that at least there will be no bloodshed on both sides,” said Satvir Singh Alhuwalia, 48, a shopkeeper in the city.
In some border areas, however, people were asked not to return home just yet. In the Indian Kashmir city of Baramulla, authorities warned residents to stay away due to the threat posed by unexploded munitions.
“People here are hosting us well but just as a bird feels at peace in its own nest, we also feel comfortable only in our own homes, even if they have been damaged,” said Azam Chaudhry, 55, who fled his home in the Pakistani town of Khuiratta and has now been told to wait until Monday before returning.
In Indian Kashmir’s Uri, a key power plant that was damaged in a Pakistani drone attack is still under repair.
“The project has suffered minor damage ... We have stopped generation as the transmission line has been damaged,” said an official from state-run NHPC, India’s biggest hydropower company, who did not want to be identified


Argentina’s Supreme Court finds archives linked to the Nazi regime

Argentina’s Supreme Court finds archives linked to the Nazi regime
Updated 58 min 13 sec ago
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Argentina’s Supreme Court finds archives linked to the Nazi regime

Argentina’s Supreme Court finds archives linked to the Nazi regime
  • The president of the Supreme Court, Horacio Rosatti, has ordered the preservation of the material and a thorough analysis

BUENOS AIRES: The Argentine Supreme Court has found documentation associated with the Nazi regime among its archives including propaganda material that was used to spread Adolf Hitler’s ideology in the South American nation, a judicial authority from the Court told the Associated Press on Sunday.
The court came across the material when preparing for the creation of a museum with its historical documents, the source said. The official requested anonymity due to internal policies.
Among the documents, they found postcards, photographs, and propaganda material from the German regime.
Some of the material “intended to consolidate and propagate Adolf Hitler’s ideology in Argentina, in the midst of World War II,” the source said.
The boxes are believed to be related to the arrival of 83 packages in Buenos Aires on June 20, 1941, sent by the German embassy in Tokyo aboard the Japanese steamship “Nan-a-Maru.”
At the time, the German diplomatic mission in Argentina had requested the release of the material, claiming the boxes contained personal belongings, but the Customs and Ports Division retained it.
The president of the Supreme Court, Horacio Rosatti, has ordered the preservation of the material and a thorough analysis.


UK prime minister, under pressure from Farage, tightens migration rules

UK prime minister, under pressure from Farage, tightens migration rules
Updated 12 May 2025
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UK prime minister, under pressure from Farage, tightens migration rules

UK prime minister, under pressure from Farage, tightens migration rules
  • Under Starmer government’s plan, skilled worker visas will be restricted to graduate-level applicants
  • Care sector firms barred from recruiting abroad; businesses required to increase training for local workers

LONDON: Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced a new salvo of measures to toughen up Britain’s migration system on Sunday, saying many immigrants would have to wait longer before getting the status they need to claim welfare.
Starmer’s government — which is due to publish plans for new legislation to reduce immigration on Monday — is under pressure to counter the rise in popularity of Nigel Farage’s right-wing, anti-immigration Reform UK party.
Over the weekend, interior minister Yvette Cooper announced plans to restrict skilled worker visas to graduate-level applicants, prevent care sector firms from recruiting abroad and require businesses to increase training for local workers.
“Every area of the immigration system, including work, family and study, will be tightened up so we have more control,” Starmer said in a statement. “Enforcement will be tougher than ever and migration numbers will fall.”
Under the changes, automatic settlement and citizenship for people who move to Britain will apply after 10 years, up from five years now, although highly skilled workers — such as nurses, doctors, engineers and AI experts — would be fast-tracked.
Migrants who are in the UK on visas are typically ineligible for welfare benefits and social housing.
The government also said it plans to raise English language requirements to include all adult dependents who will have to show a basic understanding of English. It said the change would help integration and reduce the risks of exploitation.
“This is a clean break from the past and will ensure settlement in this country is a privilege that must be earned, not a right,” Starmer said.
“And when people come to our country, they should also commit to integration and to learning our language,” he said.
The number of European Union migrants to Britain fell sharply after Brexit but new visa rules, a rise in people arriving from Ukraine and Hong Kong and higher net numbers of foreign students led to an overall surge in recent years.
Net migration — the number of people coming to Britain minus the number leaving — hit a record 906,000 in the year to June 2023, up from 184,000 who arrived in the same period during 2019, when Britain was still in the EU.
Employers’ groups are worried that tightening the rules on foreign workers will make it harder for companies to fill vacancies.
“This major intervention in the labor market will leave many employers fearful that in tackling concerns about immigration, government goes after the wrong target,” Neil Carberry, chief executive of the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC), said.
Being open to skilled workers was essential for Britain “but so is a controlled, affordable and responsive immigration system that keeps investment flowing to the UK,” Carberry said.