WORLD

The relentless US effort to cajole New Delhi into its sphere of influence will continue with yet another meeting between President Joe Biden and India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Quad summit in Tokyo in May.

The White House confirmed on Wednesday that Biden will travel to South Korea and Japan May 20-24 for a bilateral visit to the former followed by the QUAD in Japan, during which he will also meet Modi. “This trip will advance the Biden-Harris Administration’s rock-solid commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific,” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said.

Following his strong pushback against Europe on India's ties with Russia, foreign minister S Jaishankar on Wednesday once again justified India's position on Ukraine, saying India's choices and positions are best placed to advance the goal of ending the conflict and returning to the dialogue table.

In a message again aimed at the West, Jaishankar said at the Raisina Dialogue in Delhi that it's better to engage the world by being "confident about who we are" rather than try and please the world as a "pale imitation of what they are". His remarks are significant in the context of PM Narendra Modi’s visit to Europe, where Ukraine and Russia’s actions are again likely to figure prominently in meetings.

External affairs minister S Jaishankar will make a day-long visit to Dhaka on April 28 to prepare the grounds for a long-pending trip to India by Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, people familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.

Jaishankar’s visit will also be an opportunity for the two sides to review several high-profile projects being implemented as part of the Indian side’s development cooperation, the people cited above said.

A visit to India by Hasina has been on the cards for several months, especially after Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Dhaka in March last year to participate in celebrations marking the 50th anniversary of Bangladesh’s independence. It is now expected she will travel to New Delhi sometime soon after the month of Ramzan or in the second half of the year.

India has bought more than twice as much crude oil from Russia in the two months since its invasion of Ukraine as it did in the whole of 2021, according to Reuters calculations, as Indian refiners snapped up discounted oil that others have shunned.

Refiners in India have placed orders for at least 40 million barrels of Russian oil since the invasion on Feb. 24, Reuters calculations based on information from crude tenders and traders show. The purchases are for loading in the June quarter.

That compares with total imports of Russian oil into India of 16 million barrels in the whole of last year, according to Reuters calculations.

Privatised Air India will no longer get precedence in getting international flying rights under India’s bilaterals with other countries and all Indian carriers will now be on the same footing.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has revised the guidelines in this regard by dropping the clause that was meant for the erstwhile state-owned Maharaja: “Due consideration shall be given to the operational plans submitted by Air India before allocation of the traffic rights to the other eligible applicants.”

The regulator, on April 19, 2022, issued the revised rules for granting permission for scheduled international flights to Indian carriers who can qualify for doing so after meeting the 0/20 requirement — no cap on years of operation but having a minimum of 20 aircraft in fleet.