In a holiday-season flavored but hard-sounding telephone conversation, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was called by former US President Donald Trump earlier this week, wishing him Diwali greetings and discussing some serious matters like how the two nations trade and why India imports oil from Russia.
After months of uncertainty and prolonged seat-sharing talks, the Opposition I.N.D.I.A. bloc on Thursday announced RJD leader and former deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav as its chief ministerial candidate for the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections, a move seen as a last-ditch effort to project unity and end internal squabbles ahead of the polls.
Other recent developments in India have been to dramatically enhance diplomatic and strategic relations with Afghanistan under Taliban leadership through upgrading its technical mission to Kabul into a full-fledged embassy and to participate in higher levels of bilateral relations. Such is happening in the context of poor relations between Taliban and Pakistan which gives India a strategic chance of re-engaging Afghanistan without officially acknowledging the Taliban government.
Opposition parties in Maharashtra will hold a grand rally on November 1 to urge the Election Commission of India (ECI) to remove around “one crore bogus voters” from the electoral rolls, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut said on Sunday (October 19, 2025).
The acceptance of diversity and the importance of asking “difficult questions” are enduring memories of India for Sri Lankan Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya, who began her first official visit to India on Thursday (October 16, 2025) with a walk down memory lane to her alma mater, Delhi University’s Hindu College.
In the state visit of Indian President Narendra Modi to Mongolia, the countries signed ten significant agreements updating a 70-year history of diplomatic relations between the two countries. The agreements were signed following the delegation-level discussions with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Hyderabad House, with a strengthened strategic coverage of the countries in the energy, defence, cultural, and digital sectors.
RJD president Lalu Prasad gave away party tickets to candidates favoured by him, unfazed by inability of the INDIA bloc, helmed in Bihar by the Rashtriya Janata Dal, to formally announce a plan for seat-sharing.
Sergio Gor, the US Ambassador-designate, received Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, in New Delhi, with this being a significant diplomatic activity with Gor taking office of the new role of enhancing India-US relations.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has clearly stated that there will be no increase in visa opportunities for highly skilled Indian workers, despite pressure from business leaders. Speaking on his way to Mumbai to promote the UK-India Free Trade Agreement (FTA) signed in July, Starmer insisted that easing immigration rules “isn’t part of the plans.”
India has now aligned with the Taliban, Pakistan, China, and Russia in opposing the U.S. President Donald Trump’s bid to regain control of the Bagram air base in Afghanistan. The announcement comes days ahead of the scheduled visit of Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi to New Delhi, a historic first for a senior Taliban diplomat.
