India and Russia are discussing a free trade agreement, ministers said yesterday, a move that would further deepen bilateral commercial ties that have flourished since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
Indian Minister of External Affairs Subrahmanyam Jaishankar told an event in New Delhi that his government was in “advance agreement” on a trade treaty that Russian Minister of Trade and Industry Denis Manturov said would bring a guarantee of bilateral investment.
India has not explicitly criticized Russia’s invasion of Ukraine — which Moscow describes as a “special military operation” — and has called for a peaceful resolution of the conflict through dialogue.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Russia, a traditional defense equipment supplier, also displaced Iraq last month to become India’s top supplier of crude oil. Overall Indian imports from Russia increased almost fourfold to US$46.33 billion in the year to March 31.
Moscow was looking to increase machinery imports from India to improve the trade balance, Manturov said.
“We need to find a niche in the products which India can replace,” he told reporters on the sidelines of the event. “In civilian projects, we need as wide cooperation as it was before the sanctions.”
Reuters reported in November last year that Russia was potentially seeking to import more than 500 products from India for key sectors including automobiles, aircraft and trains, as Western sanctions undermine Moscow’s ability to keep core industries operating.
India also aims to narrow its growing trade deficit with Russia, which has been India’s largest supplier of military equipment for decades and is the fourth-biggest market for Indian pharmaceuticals.
Jaishankar said that Indian business could benefit from Russian technology and that New Delhi was working to iron out payments, certification and logistics issues.
Semiconductor business between Taiwan and the US is a “win-win” model for both sides given the high level of complementarity, the government said yesterday responding to tariff threats from US President Donald Trump. Home to the world’s largest contract chipmaker, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), Taiwan is a key link in the global technology supply chain for companies such as Apple Inc and Nvidia Corp. Trump said on Monday he plans to impose tariffs on imported chips, pharmaceuticals and steel in an effort to get the producers to make them in the US. “Taiwan and the US semiconductor and other technology industries
SMALL AND EFFICIENT: The Chinese AI app’s initial success has spurred worries in the US that its tech giants’ massive AI spending needs re-evaluation, a market strategist said Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) start-up DeepSeek’s (深度求索) eponymous AI assistant rocketed to the top of Apple Inc’s iPhone download charts, stirring doubts in Silicon Valley about the strength of the US’ technological dominance. The app’s underlying AI model is widely seen as competitive with OpenAI and Meta Platforms Inc’s latest. Its claim that it cost much less to train and develop triggered share moves across Asia’s supply chain. Chinese tech firms linked to DeepSeek, such as Iflytek Co (科大訊飛), surged yesterday, while chipmaking tool makers like Advantest Corp slumped on the potential threat to demand for Nvidia Corp’s AI accelerators. US stock
The US Federal Reserve is expected to announce a pause in rate cuts on Wednesday, as policymakers look to continue tackling inflation under close and vocal scrutiny from US President Donald Trump. The Fed cut its key lending rate by a full percentage point in the final four months of last year and indicated it would move more cautiously going forward amid an uptick in inflation away from its long-term target of 2 percent. “I think they will do nothing, and I think they should do nothing,” Federal Reserve Bank of St Louis former president Jim Bullard said. “I think the
‘LASER-FOCUSED’: Trump pledged tariffs on specific sectors, including semiconductors, pharmaceuticals, steel, copper and aluminum, and perhaps even cars US President Donald Trump said he wants to enact across-the-board tariffs that are “much bigger” than 2.5 percent, the latest in a string of signals that he is preparing widespread levies to reshape US supply chains. “I have it in my mind what it’s going to be but I won’t be setting it yet, but it’ll be enough to protect our country,” Trump told reporters on Monday night. Asked about a report that incoming US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent favored starting with a global rate of 2.5 percent, Trump said he did not think Bessent supported that and would not
RSS