India news: Marco Rubio visits to repair ties, boost QUAD

The founder of the parody Cockroach Janata Party (CJP), Abhijeet Dipke, accused India's governing party of taking down the group's official website.

Dipke said the government had taken down the "iconic" website in a post on X.

The party is a play on the name of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's governing Bharatiya Janata Party (the Indian People's Party).

The movement rose last month after India's chief justice, Surya Kant, compared some young people and critics of institutions to "cockroaches" and "parasites," triggering a backlash among Indians angered by unemployment and recent government exam paper leaks that have disrupted job recruitment drives.

Kant later said he was referring to people with fake degrees. But it was too late.

A party with the cockroach as its symbol exploded across India's social media last week, with its Instagram page amassing more than 22 million followers as of today, far more than Modi's BJP, which has 9.2 million.

But the rapid ascent of the party has also faced pushback over its politics of representation. Viewing the movement as mass political representation is problematic because it derives momentum from a narrow swath of people, often the English-speaking, phone-owning classes in India.

There are many groups that have organized movements for years, for example those led by India's Dalit community, people belonging to the lowest strata of India's caste system, that have had little far-reaching representation.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has invited Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to visit the White House, said Sergio Gor, the US ambassador to India.

"Secretary Marco Rubio extended an invite on behalf of President Donald Trump, for Prime Minister Modi to visit the White House in the near future!" Gor wrote on X.

“We had a productive discussion on ways to deepen U.S.-India cooperation across security, trade, and critical technologies,” he said in another post after Rubio’s meeting with Modi.

Following the talks, Modi wrote on X that New Delhi and Washington “will continue to work closely for the global good.”

 

Indian Trade Minister Piyush Goyal will visit Canada from May 25 to 27 in an effort to bolster trade and investment ties between the countries.

He will be accompanied by a huge delegation, including 150 Indian business leaders.

The minister said discussions during the trip would focus on cooperation ⁠in ​technology, food processing, clean energy ​and critical minerals. Both sides aim to increase bilateral trade to $50 billion (€43 billion) over the next five years, he added.

India and Canada are also in talks to reach a free trade agreement.

Relations between New Delhi and Ottawa took a big hit in recent years after Canada accused India of orchestrating a deadly campaign against Sikh activists on Canadian territory. The tensions resulted in both countries even expelling a string of top diplomats.

Both sides have been seeking to repair ties over the past year. When Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney visited India earlier this year, New Delhi and Ottawa agreed to strengthen economic engagement and speed up trade talks.

India's state-run fuel retailers have raised petrol and diesel prices for the third time in a span of eight days.

The hike on Saturday means that petrol prices have gone up by 5%, or 4.75 rupees ($0.05; €0.043) per liter (1/4 gallon), in Delhi since May 15, while diesel prices have increased by 4.82 rupees.

India is the world's third-biggest oil importer and consumer of crude oil.

Disruptions to Gulf shipping routes through the Strait of Hormuz in the wake of the Iran war have posed a challenge to India’s energy security.

The resulting high crude prices have also hit the finances of state-run oil marketing companies, which had to incur massive losses by selling fuel at subsidized prices to consumers.

Global oil ​prices spiked to ‌more than $120 a barrel amid the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, before pulling back to around $100 to $105 on hopes the conflict will end soon.

The US government announced a new rule on Friday requiring foreigners to leave the United States and apply for green cards from their home countries.

"From now on, an alien who is in the US temporarily and wants a green card must return to their home country to apply, except in extraordinary circumstances," US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) spokesman Zach Kahler said in a statement.

The new policy could affect many Indian nationals currently living in the United States who want to change their visa status.

Read more about the new rule here.

From tariffs and Russian oil pressure to Pakistan and the Iran war, the “Modi–Trump bromance” glow is gone. As US Secretary of State Marco Rubio visits India, DW’s Sandra Petersmann asked an analyst how India can play its cards to manage the tricky partnership. 

Foreign ministers from the US, India, Japan and Australia — the four nations that make up the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, better known as the Quad — are set to meet in New Delhi over three days from Sunday to discuss Indo-Pacific security, energy supplies and emerging technologies.

The meeting comes as China continues to test geopolitical and security boundaries in the region.

But it's another issue, which is not on the agenda, that looms large over the gathering: how to keep the alliance alive and relevant in an ever more challenging geopolitical landscape and an increasingly assertive China.

Read the full DW Asia report on the Quad meeting in India here. 

India is the biggest whiskey-drinking nation in the world. Roughly 230 million cases are consumed here annually, accounting for nearly half of global whiskey sales, according to the International Wine and Spirits Research, the global authority on beverage alcohol data.

But US-made bourbon brands, such as Maker's Mark, have long remained a niche product in India, where whiskey drinkers have traditionally preferred Scotch and domestic brands.

But that could finally be changing. For years, a 150% import tariff meant bourbon was prohibitively expensive in India, limiting both availability and consumer reach.

Recent US-India trade talks reduced that duty to 100%, significantly improving the economics of selling US whiskey in the world's largest whiskey market.

Read the full report here.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio landed in the eastern Indian city of Kolkata on Saturday, kick-starting his four-day visit to the South Asian nation.

This is Rubio’s first official trip to India since becoming Washington’s top diplomat.

Rubio was welcomed by US Ambassador to India Sergio Gor at the city airport.

In Kolkata, Rubio visited Mother House, the headquarters of Saint Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity.

He then departed for the capital New Delhi, where he is expected to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other high-ranking officials, including Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.

The trip comes amid strained bilateral ties over the Trump administration’s tariff policies, which raised duties on some Indian goods, Washington’s growing friendship with New Delhi’s archrival Pakistan and the energy crisis sparked by the Iran war.

But much of Rubio’s four-day visit will focus on a multi-city tour, along with a gala reception in New Delhi marking the 250th anniversary of US independence.

“There’s a lot to work on with India, they’re a great ally and partner. We do a lot of good work with them so this is an important trip,” Rubio said ahead of his visit.

On his last day in India, Rubio will hold talks with his counterparts from the Quad grouping — an Indo-Pacific strategic alliance which includes India, the US, Japan and Australia that is seen as a counterweight to China’s growing economic and military might.

Good morning! and welcome to DW's India news blog.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has arrived in India for a four-day visit as ties between the two countries remain strained over a host of issues, including US tariffs on Indian goods and the energy crisis caused by the Iran war.

Meanwhile, the US government announced a new rule requiring foreigners to leave the US and apply for a green card from their home countries — a policy that could impact many Indian nationals currently residing in the US who want to change their visa status.

We have all of this and much more coming up. Stay tuned.