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<ul class="summary-list"><li>In a move likely to anger the US, Modi is visiting Russia.</li><li>It signals strong ties between the two countries and shows that India is pursuing its own agenda.</li></ul>In a move likely to anger the US, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is visiting Russia on Monday for his first bilateral trip after winning a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/india-election-results-complicates-plans-unseat-china-modi-bjp-2024-6">historic third term</a> in office.Modi's two-day visit to Russia — where he is scheduled to meet with President Vladimir Putin — is significant in that it signals strong ties between New Delhi and Moscow. It also shows the world that India is not afraid to pursue its own agenda.Vinay Kwatra, India's foreign secretary, told reporters in New Delhi that issues between Russia and India have "piled up" and "need to be addressed," <a target="_blank" href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-07-07/putin-hosts-modi-after-hailing-best-in-history-ties-with-india-rival-china">Bloomberg reported</a>.Russia's relationship with India goes back to the Cold War, and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businesstoday.in/india/story/rise-in-trade-with-russia-not-a-temporary-phenomenon-s-jaishankar-429969-2024-05-17">trade between the two countries</a> has grown since Russia started the war in Ukraine. <a target="_blank" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/commodities/russian-oil-india-purchases-us-crude-wti-sanctions-ukraine-war-2024-3">India is a major buyer of Russian oil</a>. Russia is also India's biggest arms supplier.Kwatra underscored that the two countries' trade relationship has remained "resilient."Still, Modi's trip will "rankle many Western observers," Ved Shinde, a researcher and contributor to Australia's <a target="_blank" href="https://www.lowyinstitute.org/the-interpreter/why-modi-will-go-moscow">Lowy Institute</a>, wrote in a note on Wednesday."Since the Ukraine war began, India's purchase of cheap oil from Russia has been seen as profiting from troubles in the heart of Europe," Shinde added.<h2 id="05696275-c92a-4ee6-84e4-fd193ca99db2">Modi's visit to Russia will make the US look bad</h2>Just like <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/vietnam-russia-putin-visit-us-wary-manufacturing-supply-chain-diplomacy-2024-6">Putin's visit to supply-chain hot spot Vietnam</a>, India's engagement with Russia isn't a good look for the US, as it comes while Washington is trying to isolate Putin.The US has raised "some concerns" about India's relationship with Russia with New Delhi, Kurt Campbell, the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.state.gov/special-online-briefing-with-deputy-secretary-of-state-kurt-m-campbell/">US deputy secretary of state</a>, said last month.However, Washington acknowledges that India's ties with Russia are different from its ties with the US."We have many areas of alignment, but it is not surprising that there would be areas where we've had perhaps different perspectives, views, historical ties," Campbell said about America's relationship with India.India, for its part, is looking to balance its relationship with the world's key powerbrokers: the US, Russia, and China."There are different degrees in India's multi-alignment. Make no mistake — the United States and its allies are more consequential for India's future than its relationship with Russia," Shinde wrote.India needs to leverage its historical ties with Russia to secure its economy and security, so Modi isn't just in Russia for a goodwill trip.<h2 id="c79db6fd-b57b-4ff5-8f16-bc16c77b8021">Reducing the trade imbalance</h2>A key agenda item for the visit is to reduce a huge bilateral trade imbalance, Kwatra said.India imports about $60 billion of goods a year from Russia, but Russia buys less than 10% of this amount from India, Bloomberg reported.Modi may also touch on China's activities in the Indo-Pacific region, Kwatra added.India is trying to manage its relationship with China, which has been testy since a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/india-china-border-clashes-could-cause-more-indian-ocean-activity-2020-7">border dispute in 2020</a>. Modi skipped the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Kazakhstan last week.There's also the matter of Russia's ties with China.At the summit last week, Putin said <a target="_blank" href="https://apnews.com/video/kazakhstan-china-government-russia-government-russia-5b1c1a8f402c400d8d703543b0562b51">Russia's relationship with China</a> is in the "best period in history."Modi now needs to cozy up to Putin to counter China's advances."The reason for the time-tested stability in India-Russia ties is to maintain a continental balance in the Eurasian heartland. That is, to balance China," Shinde wrote."Or to put it another way, don't go around making new adversaries when there are already two open fronts — China and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-and-china-pick-sides-in-tense-india-pakistan-rivalry-2022-3">Pakistan</a>," he added.

Modi's Russia visit shows India isn't worried about making the US mad

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The Indian economy has grown strongly under Narendra Modi, whose party is set to win another term.</li><li>India's success has caught the eye of figures including Elon Musk, Jamie Dimon, and Tim Cook.</li></ul>India's powerful economic growth and blossoming middle class under Narendra Modi have caught the eye of corporate titans like Elon Musk, Jamie Dimon, and Tim Cook.Modi is pretty much a shoo-in for a third term as prime minister after the national election now underway ends on June 1. But the work starts there, as he'll have to navigate thorny issues such as youth unemployment, income inequality, and reliance on sanctioned Russian oil.<h2>Fueling growth and shaking hands</h2>India's economy has more than doubled in size during Modi's decade in charge to more than $3.7 trillion last year.The International Monetary Fund (IMF) <a target="_blank" href="https://www.imf.org/en/Blogs/Articles/2024/04/29/asias-growth-and-inflation-outlook-improves-but-risks-remain">recently upgraded</a> its growth forecast for real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to a robust 7.8% this year, 6.8% in 2025, and 6.5% in 2026.India has already overtaken Britain to become the world's fifth-largest economy. It's on track to leapfrog Japan and Germany into third spot behind the US and China by 2027.The country's flagship stock index has also tripled in value since Modi took office in May 2014, thanks to wealth gains and growing investment appetites.Moreover, <a target="_blank" href="https://sbi.co.in/documents/13958/36530824/270224-HCES_Feb24.pdf">one estimate</a> puts the percentage of the Indian population living on less than $2.15 a day at below 5%, down from 12% in 2011. However, the <a target="_blank" href="https://pip.worldbank.org/country-profiles/IND">World Bank</a> pegged that figure at nearly 13% in 2021.India's middle class has also ballooned with 60 million people now earning the rupee equivalent of more $10,000 a year — about $37,200 once adjusted for <a target="_blank" href="https://www.imf.org/external/datamapper/profile/IND">purchasing power</a>. Goldman Sachs <a target="_blank" href="https://www.goldmansachs.com/intelligence/pages/indias-affluent-population-is-likely-to-hit-100-million-by-2027.html">expects</a> the ranks of the relatively affluent to swell to 100 million by 2027."Modi has done an unbelievable job in India," JPMorgan's Dimon <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/jpmorgan-jamie-dimon-economy-inflation-recession-stagflation-geopolitics-crypto-bitcoin-2024-4">told</a> the Economic Club of New York last month. "I know the liberal press here, they beat the hell out of him. He's taken 400 million people out of poverty."Musk has <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1781541775183610310">posted</a> on X that he's looking forward to visiting India and meeting Modi this year. He delayed his trip last month, blaming "very heavy Tesla obligations." The pair are expected to discuss Tesla building a multibillion-dollar factory in the country.As for Apple's Cook, he hailed India on a November earnings call as an "incredibly exciting market" and a "<a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/apple-tim-cook-obsessed-india-consumers-iphone-2023-7">major focus of ours</a>" given the explosive growth in potential customers as locals get richer.<div type="image" title="Sundar Pichai, Tim Cook, Narendra Modi, Joe Biden" height="3907" width="5861" msid="109838230" hostid="261" sizebytes="846512"></div>Modi has also met with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, Microsoft boss Satya Nadella, and Alphabet's Sundar Pichai. He's likely to be seeking to attract foreign direct investment (FDI) in India — and to capitalize on bosses' <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-china-relations-reshoring-manufacturing-jobs-made-in-america-2023-10">desire to hedge their bets on China</a> given its strained relationship with the US, economic woes, and how disruptive its strict pandemic lockdowns were to global supply chains."India's population and economic growth numbers are causing a lot of global executives to revisit their India presence and consider scaling up," Richard Rossow, a senior advisor and chair in US-India Policy Studies at the Center for Strategic &amp; International Studies, told Business Insider."Paired with increased concerns about supply chain resilience and security concerns about China, it's a very good time for a hard push to win investments."The United Nations said that India and China both had a population of 1.426 billion in April last year, meaning India is probably now the most populous given its rising birth rate.<h2>Change for the better — mostly</h2>Modi has instigated a raft of major economic reforms since taking office, intended to make India more business-friendly, and boost government revenues by taxing more of the country's vast informal economy.He rolled out a tax on goods and services, simplified bankruptcy laws, lifted FDI restrictions, cut corporate income tax, and ended retrospective taxation.However, not all of Modi's moves spurred growth."Demonetisation was a key economic policy which had negative effects on the economy," Kunal Sen, a director of the United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics, told BI.Sen is the author of several books about India's economy and a professor of development economics at the University of Manchester.He was referring to Modi's sudden declaration in November 2016 that all 500 and 1,000-rupee bills — 86% of Indian currency in circulation — would <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/india-ending-500-and-1000-rupee-bills-to-fight-corruption-2016-11">no longer be accepted as legal tender</a>.The government's goals were to capture undeclared income, get rid of counterfeit currency, broaden the tax base, and bring more activities into the formal economy."The other key economic policy was JAM — the trinity of bank accounts for the poor, mobile numbers and a biometric card. This last economic policy has been revolutionary," Sen said.He was hailing a broader digitization drive under Modi that has <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/how-indias-digital-payments-ecosystem-has-evolved-in-the-last-one-year/slidelist/90595832.cms">transformed</a> how Indians bank, invest, pay their taxes, and conduct business.<h2>Prosperity for all</h2>Modi's efforts have helped to usher in a more prosperous era for some Indians, but many have been left behind.Young people are India's beating heart, with about half its population under 25 and almost two-thirds under 35. Matching those hundreds of millions of people with jobs has proven a challenge, with youth unemployment almost tripling from below 6% in 2000 to about 18% in 2019. It still stands at a hefty 10% in 2023, per the <a target="_blank" href="https://webapps.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---asia/---ro-bangkok/---sro-new_delhi/documents/publication/wcms_921154.pdf">International Labor Organization</a>.The report found that nearly 30% of India's graduates were unemployed in 2022, and only about 10% of the working-age population was formally employed.<div type="image" title="A farmer uses oxen to plow fields for lentils in Nimaj, Rajasthan, northern India." height="3464" width="5196" msid="109838232" hostid="261" sizebytes="690700"></div>"Unemployment is a big issue," Rossow said, emphasizing this isn't just a problem with recent graduates but a "much, much larger bubble: the underemployed farm laborers."Rising agricultural productivity is likely to help farm workers make a faster transition to city life in the years ahead, but they'll struggle to secure modern jobs in the services industry "without significant reskilling and education," Rossow said.As a result, lower-skilled manufacturing and assembly jobs and lower-end services jobs will be needed, he added.Another major challenge will be tackling a widening wealth divide. The richest 10% of the population hold more than 72% of the nation's wealth, per an Oxfam report <a target="_blank" href="https://d1ns4ht6ytuzzo.cloudfront.net/oxfamdata/oxfamdatapublic/2023-01/India%20Supplement%202023_digital.pdf?">published</a> last year.Business tycoons Mukesh Ambani and Gautam Adani both rank among the world's 15 richest people, per the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.bloomberg.com/billionaires/">Bloomberg Billionaires Index</a>. Luxury-goods sales are booming with <a target="_blank" href="https://www.carwale.com/news/mercedesbenz-lineups-waiting-period-reduced-in-india/">long waitlists</a> for flashy purchases like the Mercedes "G Wagon."<div type="image" title="The Ambani family onstage with Rihanna." height="854" width="1280" msid="109838233" hostid="261" sizebytes="99148"></div>The <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/anant-ambani-pre-wedding-festivities-lack-empathy-india-radhika-merchant-2024-3">lavish pre-wedding party</a> thrown by the Ambani family earlier this year was singled out by some as an affront to the huge number of Indians living in poverty.Almost 1.3 billion people live on less than $3,500 a year by one estimate, and India ranks 111th on the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.globalhungerindex.org/ranking.html">Global Hunger Index</a>, below even North Korea.Rising equality is partly explained by a "capital-intensive mode of economic growth along with increasing power of business conglomerates," Sen told BI, referring to how huge companies like the Adani Group secure huge government contracts to build ports, bridges, highways, and other infrastructure.A third challenge is regional inequality, as some states like Bihar and Uttar Pradesh haven't experienced the same growth and modernization of their economies as others, Rossow said.<h2>The Russia riddle</h2>One striking aspect of Modi's economic boom has been its reliance on Russia since it invaded Ukraine in early 2022.India went from getting 2% of its crude oil from Russia before the war, to 35% last year. During that period, the US and Europe slapped sanctions on Russian oil to defund Putin's military machine and punish Moscow for attacking a sovereign nation.Despite that, India purchased an estimated $37 billion of Moscow's oil in 2023 — 13 times the amount it bought annually prior to the conflict. Its buying helped Russia rake in a <a target="_blank" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/commodities/russia-economy-oil-sales-india-ukraine-war-moscow-western-sanctions-2024-2">record $320 billion</a> of federal revenue last year.Indian demand for Russian oil has <a target="_blank" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/commodities/russia-oil-trade-crude-india-discount-barrel-sanctions-price-cap-2024-2">cooled</a> in recent months as new sanctions have made it <a target="_blank" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/commodities/russia-economy-oil-energy-exports-india-imports-revenue-sanctions-discount-2024-3">more expensive</a>, but the buying remains controversial.Officials in India have <a target="_blank" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/commodities/crude-oil-prices-india-russia-trade-geopolitics-opec-supply-puri-2024-2">defended</a> the purchases, saying that if they'd bought Middle Eastern oil instead, global crude prices would have shot up.India is also one of the world's largest oil refiners and has helped Western nations to maintain access to refined petroleum products even as they're refraining from buying Russian crude directly.Yet the country imports 85% of its oil, so its overriding interest is securing the cheapest oil possible to support its development, said Neelima Jain, a senior fellow and chair in US India Policy Studies at CSIS."India will continue to buy Russian oil if the price remains favorable and allows for firm volume guarantees, as the country prioritizes energy affordability and accessibility during its rapid rural-to-urban transition, which has led to a 6% year-on-year growth in energy demand," she told BI."In an inflationary environment, economics [rather] than geopolitics will drive India's energy choices."<div type="image" title="Narendra Modi and Vladimir Putin" height="3196" width="4714" msid="109838234" hostid="261" sizebytes="426292"></div><h2>India the IT hub</h2>Under Modi, India has made big strides in modernizing its economy, combating bureaucracy, and appealing to foreign investors.Big Tech stalwarts like Microsoft have a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-has-so-many-patents-its-outsourced-the-job-to-india-2013-5">long history</a> of outsourcing to India, but recent efforts to cut red tape and slash corporate taxes appear to have fueled fresh interest.Sweeping layoffs at Alphabet, Amazon, Meta, Salesforce and other US tech titans in the past few years could presage a large exodus of jobs to India.Sanjay Shetty of Randstad India <a target="_blank" href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/technology/outsourcing-hubs-like-india-to-bag-40-of-jobs-lost-to-layoffs/articleshow/101088673.cms?">told The Economic Times</a> last summer that he expected 30% to 40% of the tech jobs eliminated globally to move to India by 2025."India is going to be the biggest gainer in the medium to long term, as almost every company that we speak to is looking at expanding its India base," Shetty said.Even if that pans out, it won't be a panacea for a country facing not just unemployment and underemployment, but also stark income inequality, regional disparities, and the risk of alienating Western allies by continuing to buy Russian oil.Yet overall, India appears to be headed in the right direction."The growth is real, if focused on a few key states," Rossow said. "India's dynamic technology services sector is to IT services what China is to manufacturing. So there is much to cheer, even as the reform agenda seems to never end."

Tech titans love Modi's economic powerhouse India — despite mass unemployment and abject poverty 

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Elon Musk visits China to expedite Tesla's full self-driving tech rollout, say reports.</li><li>Musk is set to meet with senior Chinese officials. </li></ul>Tesla CEO Elon Musk touched down in China on Sunday in the tech billionaire's second trip in less than a year to the world's biggest market for electric vehicles.The purpose of the trip is to hurry along the<a target="_blank" href="https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/elon-musk-heading-china-visit-teslas-second-biggest-market-sources-say-2024-04-28/"> rollout of Tesla's full self-driving technology</a>, the most advanced version of its Autopilot software, Reuters reported, citing an unnamed person familiar with the matter. Musk is expected to meet with senior officials to discuss the software and gain permission to transfer data overseas, the person said.Musk also visited China in May last year when he met with China's foreign, commerce and industry ministers. The content of the meetings was not disclosed, though <a target="_blank" href="https://www.reuters.com/business/elon-musk-visits-chinas-commerce-ministry-2023-05-31/">Reuters reported at the time </a>that Musk had discussed the development of electric vehicles.Earlier this month, Musk said in a <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1781558948144820578">post on X </a>that Tesla would be making Full Self-Driving (FSD) available to Chinese customers "very soon."In an earnings call on April 23, Musk <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-stock-tsla-quarterly-earnings-call-report-live-updates-2024-4">said,</a> "So we plan on, with the approval of the regulators, releasing it as a supervised autonomy system in any market that — where we can get regulatory approval for that, which we think includes China."Tesla has been facing increased competition from Chinese manufacturers since electric vehicle maker Xpeng <a target="_blank" class="editor-rtfLink" href="https://www.reuters.com/technology/xpeng-aims-roll-out-driver-assistance-software-all-chinese-cities-by-2024-2023-03-31/">said</a> last year that it was upgrading its advanced driver assistance software (FSD equivalent) and planning to make all its functions available to drivers across China by 2024.Musk's China trip comes after he <a target="_blank" class="editor-rtfLink" href="https://www.reuters.com/world/india/teslas-elon-musk-postpones-india-trip-sources-say-2024-04-20/">canceled </a>a visit to India to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Musk said he had "very heavy Tesla obligations."Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider, sent outside regular working hours.It has been a tough month for the EV manufacturer. <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-stock-tsla-quarterly-earnings-call-report-live-updates-2024-4">In its earnings call last week,</a> Tesla reported its first decline in quarterly revenue since 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic caused delays to production and deliveries.This month, The EV manufacturer said it would lay off 10% of its global workforce as it grappled with waning sales.US federal safety regulators also <a target="_blank" class="editor-rtfLink" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/feds-investigating-tesla-autopilot-recall-after-crashes-kept-happening-2024-4">said</a> Friday that they were launching an investigation into whether Tesla's recall of more than two million vehicles in the US, which the company announced in December to install new Autopilot safeguards, was sufficient following several crashes.

Musk makes his second trip to China in less than a year to hurry along self-driving tech rollout, reports say

<keyword id="6354814" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="prime-minister-Narendra-Modi">Prime Minister Narendra Modi</keyword>, who is back in India after a multination trip, spent more than a third of his time abroad, commuting from one country to another. Out of the 95 hours that he spent on the trip, the PM spent 33 hours flying in his <keyword id="2573" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Air-India">Air India</keyword> <keyword id="6357957" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Boeing">Boeing</keyword>, sources told <a href="http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/33-hours-in-airplane-mode-for-pm-narendra-modi/articleshow/59343483.cms">ET</a>. In the remaining time, he attended 33 back-to-back engagements and meetings in the US, Portugal and the Netherlands, thus making it one of the busiest foreign trips by an Indian PM. Adhering to his rule of not spending a night in a country unless there is an engagement scheduled for the next day, PM Modi didn’t spend a night in either Netherlands or Portugal. The same rule was followed when he flew from Lisbon to Washington DC, thereon to Hague and then back to India. His itinerary included flying 10 hours to Lisbon from Delhi, where he had a briefing in the VVIP lounge of the Lisbon Airport itself, thus saving time that he could have spent in going to a hotel and checking in. From the airport, he left straight for Portugal’s foreign ministry. After meetings with the officials and having a working lunch, PM Modi visited the Champalimaud Foundation, held an interaction with the Indian community and flew out from the Lisbon Airport for Washington DC. After being in flight bound to Washington for nearly eight hours, he checked into the Willard Continental Hotel with his team, where he had 17 engagements over the next two days. However, instead of spending a second night in Washington DC, he flew to the Netherlands, had about seven engagements, and then flew straight to Delhi.

33 hours in flight and 33 back to back meetings! PM Modi surely had a busy trip abroad

It’s been a little over two years that <keyword id="6354477" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Narendra-Modi">Narendra Modi</keyword> took his oath as the Prime Minister of India, and in these two years, he has travelled 51 times abroad to 42 countries across six continents. While one can say that it’s because of India’s increasing commitments at multilateral forums that he has to travel so much, given that several of his trips, including ones he made to Sri Lanka, Australia, Nepal, Seychelles, UAE, Canada and Fiji were strategic for bilateral pacts, the truth can’t be denied that by the time his term ends in 2019, he could well be the most travelled Indian PM ever. 
 
As per ET, Modi has travelled a total of 1,91,069 miles since he became the PM, taking 9 foreign trips in 2014, 28 in 2015 and 14 in 2016 so far. In the coming three years, he will possibly be travelling to Vietnam, China, Laos, Pakistan, Japan, Israel, China, Kazakhstan, Phillipines, Moscow, Germany, South Africa, and Shanghai for several meetings and summits, involving BRICS, East Asia Summit, G-20 meetings etc. 
 
However, it’s not like Modi is the only PM who loves to (read has to) travel. His immediate predecessor Manmohan Singh comes quite close when one counts the number of foreign trips undertaken in the first two years. Other than him, late PM Indira Gandhi was also a very well-travelled PM, having been to Afghanistan and Trinidad and Tobago in her regime. 
 
<a href="https://si.wsj.net/public/resources/images/BN-IK973_0515mo_M_20150514223136.jpg">Image source</a>

PM Modi set to make records as India’s most travelled PM ever

<ul class="generic-article__summary--ul content--ul"><li class="generic-article__summary--li content--li">Prime Minister Narendra Modi on first foreign trip since winning re-election.</li><li class="generic-article__summary--li content--li">India is pursuing a ‘neighbourhood first’ foreign policy centred on its allies in South Asia.</li></ul>Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi made his first overseas trip since being elected to a second term by travelling to Sri Lanka and Maldives where he sought to fend off China’s influence on the strategic nations. Modi on Sunday was received at the airport in Colombo by Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, before scheduled talks with President Maithripala Sirisena and opposition leader Mahinda Rajapaksa. Modi was stopping in Colombo for a few hours on his return home after an official visit to neighbouring Maldives, where he inaugurated a coastal radar system and military training centre. <div type="twitter" handle="narendramodi" handlename="Narendra Modi" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1134082549041393672/QbihPzrL_normal.png" favoritecount="19448" retweetcount="2835" status="Happy to be back in Sri Lanka, my third visit to this beautiful island in four years. Share the warmth shown by the… https://t.co/1i6uy8yaUa" createdat="1560060219000" id="1137601127602540545"></div>

 Sri Lanka has leased a Chinese-built port located near the world’s busiest east-west shipping route to a Chinese firm in 2017 for 99 years in a bid to recover from the heavy burden of repaying a Chinese loan to build the facility. Hambantota port is part of Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative that stretches from Chinese waters to the Persian Gulf. In March this year, China also agreed to provide a <a href="https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/3002960/china-give-us989-million-loan-sri-lanka-major-new-motorway" class="link-text">US$989 million loan</a> to Sri Lanka to build a motorway that will connect the island nation’s tea-growing central region to the southern port. Sri Lanka has been trying to balance both Asian giants.

It’s ‘India first’ as PM Narendra Modi seeks to fend off China in Maldives and Sri Lanka

When you plan your next air travel to abroad, make sure you try a Chinese airlines, something like <keyword id="307988" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="China-Southern-Airlines">China Southern Airlines</keyword> or <keyword id="141574" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="China-Airlines">China Airlines</keyword>. By offering lowest fares on busy travel routes between India, the Far East, Australia, <keyword id="22501" type="COUNTRY" weightage="20" keywordseo="New-Zealand">New Zealand</keyword>, right up to the <keyword id="44875" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="West-coast">West Coast</keyword> of <keyword id="6378080" type="COUNTRY" weightage="60" keywordseo="North-America">North America</keyword>, along with short transit stops at their hubs, mainland Chinese carriers are attracting Indian passengers. 
 "In the past few years we have seen a gradual increase in Chinese carriers operating in India," <keyword id="3184684" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Indiver-Rastogi">Indiver Rastogi</keyword>, president, <keyword id="948093" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Global-Business-Travel">Global Business Travel</keyword> at <keyword id="87184" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Thomas-Cook">Thomas Cook</keyword> (India) Limited told <keyword id="6405564" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="The-Times-Of-India">The Times of India</keyword>. "These airlines offer a combination of value-for-money fares and high quality experience that has attracted the price-conscious Indian traveller. These airlines are also popular with corporate travellers who have business interests in China or want to use the country as a hub to fly onward to the <keyword id="6355055" type="COUNTRY" weightage="20" keywordseo="USA">USA</keyword>," he added. 
 "The fare difference varies between Rs 20,000 and 25,000 for long-haul destinations like the US and <keyword id="6356687" type="COUNTRY" weightage="20" keywordseo="canada">Canada</keyword> compared to other carriers like <keyword id="6368386" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Singapore-Airlines">Singapore Airlines</keyword> (SIA), <keyword id="131521" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Thai-Airways">Thai Airways</keyword> and Malaysian Airlines. The competition price differential for China and <keyword id="6355311" type="COUNTRY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Japan">Japan</keyword> is from Rs 15,000-20,000," <keyword id="5149" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Rastogi">Rastogi</keyword> said. 
 The limited access to the Indian market granted to mainland Chinese carriers has saved airlines like SIA, <keyword id="94768" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Cathay-Pacific">Cathay Pacific</keyword>, Thai, Malaysian and even <keyword id="2573" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Air-India">Air India</keyword> from a Chinese takeover on routes to the east. At the moment, all major Chinese carriers fly mainly to and from Delhi. 
 "Under current Sino-Indian bilateral agreements, airlines of both sides can operate 10,000 weekly seats on 42 frequencies. While Chinese carriers are utilizing this fully, India uses only 1,280 seats on the five flights that AI operates every week to <keyword id="6368000" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Shanghai">Shanghai</keyword>. No other Indian carrier flies to China," said a senior government official. While China has been asking for enhanced bilaterals, the <keyword id="6354642" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Modi">Modi</keyword> government's stand has been that they will be hiked when India carriers utilise 80% of the rights given to them bilaterally. 
 Hong Kong-based Cathay <keyword id="54594" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="20" keywordseo="Pacific">Pacific</keyword> and <keyword id="3227877" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Cathay-Dragon">Cathay Dragon</keyword> have 48 weekly flights to six Indian cities. While <keyword id="6504436" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="HK">HK</keyword> is now part of China, Cathay continues to enjoy its flying rights under bilaterals that India had with <keyword id="379203" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Hong-King">Hong King</keyword> when it was under British rule. 
 Among mainland Chinese carriers that operate to India, China Southern has the maximum number of flights with a twice-daily on the <keyword id="3995962" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="delhi-guangzhou">Delhi-Guangzhou</keyword> (its hub) route, with both flights on the wide body <keyword id="6356166" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Airbus">Airbus</keyword> A-330 aircraft. Chengming Yan, China Southern head in Delhi, said: "Almost 60-70% of our flyers from India take connections via <keyword id="106384" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Guangzhou">Guangzhou</keyword> to US, Australia and New Zealand. We have a great network from our hub to those places. Indian flyers do not need to wait for more than two hours for their connections."

Save Rs 25000 on your next foreign trip by taking
these airlines

<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Narendra+Modi">Prime Minister Narendra Modi</a>, during his foreign trips, has been marketing India as an investment destination and strong economy but <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=rbi+governor+raghuram+rajan">RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan</a> said these messages should be backed up with action on the ground. 
 
Rajan said world view about India was changing positively after <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=modi+foreign+trips">Modi’s foreign visits</a> but added they need to be backed up with "action on the ground". 
 
"He is a very articulate spokesman for India. What we need to do is back up his visits with action on the ground which reinforces the good impression that is created," Rajan told a TV channel. 
 
He said Modi was ahead of them but when <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=investing+in+india">investors come in India</a>, they should not feel disappointed. 
 
"I think he (Modi) is ahead of us. So we have to come up to speed in a number of dimensions. For example, if the idea of India as a strong economy is sold outside and they come in, and they don't find the ease of doing business, the permissions, etc. people aren't (happy)," he said. 
 
Rajan expressed that improvement the reality on the ground was the need of the hour. 
 
(Image: Indiatimes)

Raghuram Rajan says Modi needs to walk the talk!

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Sergei <keyword id="13256778" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="lavrov" source="Orion">Lavrov</keyword> has arrived in India for two days of talks, including with Narendra <keyword id="11893655" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="modi" source="Orion">Modi</keyword>.</li><li>It comes just hours after <keyword id="13013008" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="liz-truss" source="Orion">Liz Truss</keyword>'s plea for India to stop buying cheap Russian oil was rejected.</li></ul>India welcomed <keyword id="11894337" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="russia" source="Orion">Russia</keyword>'s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov for talks on Friday after rejecting the UK's plea to <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/commodities/russia-crude-oil-west-sanctions-china-india-2022-3">cut its use on the country's cheap oil</a>. India's external affairs minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar held lukewarm talks with UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss on Thursday, in which he shrugged off her request to buy discounted oil from Russia following Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.Lavrov's delegation on Friday was granted an audience with India's Prime Minister, a high-level engagement which Truss did not receive.India was among a small number of nations that did not vote against Russia's invasion of Ukraine at the UN, opting to abstain. It has not joined Western efforts to sanction the Russian economy. Speaking at a policy exchange economic forum in New Delhi, Truss warned that oil and gas revenues were helping to fund Vladimir <keyword id="11909347" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="putin" source="Orion">Putin</keyword>'s war efforts, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/mar/31/india-defends-buying-discounted-russian-oil-despite-appeal-by-truss">according to the Guardian</a>. She said: "If Putin was successful, if he was able to have success invading a sovereign nation, what message does that send to other aggressors around the world?"While she did not name India, she praised countries such as Australia, South Korea and Singapore for participating in.She said: "I think countries across the world, regardless of their specific size, status or structure, understand there is a fundamental problem if an aggressor can get away with invading a sovereign nation, and that does violate international law and violates the UN charter."But Jaishanker pushed back, by observing that European consumption of Russian gas was going up despite the sanctions regime.Europe exempted Russia energy imports from the sanctions, a reflection of its heavy reliance on Russia for power.Jaishanker said Europe had bought "I think, 15% more oil and gas from Russia, than the month before."During Friday's meeting, the Russian foreign minister was expected to call on India to bypass Western sanctions and increased its purchases of Russian oil and gas, <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-60939406">the BBC reported</a>. There is no love lost between Truss and Lavrov. When the pair held talks aimed at averting Russia's invasion, they gave a frosty press conference in which Moscow's foreign minister branded the meeting "a dialogue of a mute person with a deaf person".During his two-day visit to India, which comes after a trip to China, Lavrov was also scheduled to meet Jaishankar, as well as India's prime minister Narendra Modi, who did not meet Truss."We are living through a serious stage in the history of international ties. The outcome of this stage will substantially clarify the international situation. We will move towards a multipolar, equitable and democratic world order with China and like-minded nations," Lavrov said ahead of his flight to New Delhi. Reporting the talks, <a href="https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/russian-foreign-minister-sergey-lavrov-to-meet-pm-modi-jaishankar-101648778407470.html">local media outlet the Hindustan Times</a> described Russia's invasion as a "special military operation." The phrase is the preferred terminology of the Kremlin, which has banned Russian media from using words like "invasion" or "war."On Thursday, British Trade Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan was critical of India for having "chosen to sit on the fence", although said she recognised "they have connections in both directions". <a href="https://news.sky.com/story/ukraine-india-shouldnt-be-sitting-on-the-fence-over-russias-invasion-says-trade-secretary-12578510">The minister told Sky News</a> that "standing up for democratic nations and peaceful borders" was "something that we want to see everyone doing". India's neutrality during an invasion in which thousands have been killed does not sit easy, she said.

India grants Russian FM audience with Modi after rejecting UK request to stop buying discount Russian oil

Last year, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Air-India-turns-profitable/articleshow/52106655.cms">Air India</a>, the flag carrier Indian airline, spent Rs 117 crore on PM Modi's foreign travel, 25% more from the previous year’s Rs 94 crore. In the year that ended in December saw Modi visiting 22 countries, including Russia, France, Germany, Korea, Mongolia, China, the UAE, Ireland, the UK, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Turkey among others. 
 
Also read: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Modi-cabinets-expenditure-rose-by-80/articleshow/51491114.cms">Modi’s cabinet is globetrotting too, spends 80% higher on travel than last year</a> 
 
When compared to ex-PM Manmohan Singh, the amount that the national carrier spent was Rs 108 crore, during 2013-2014. 
 
The figures have surfaced as a response to an RTI application by Comm (retd) Lokesh Batra. As per the Ministry of External Affairs, Modi visited 12 countries in his first year of office including Bhutan, Australia, Myanmar, Fiji, Japan, Seychelles, Brazil and Mauritius among others. 
 
The trip that cost the max happened in April 2015, when he visited <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/India-France-to-boost-their-anti-terror-co-operation-ties-calls-on-Pak-to-bring-Pathankot-perpetrators-to-justice/articleshow/50720169.cms">France</a>, Canada and Germany, which cost the exchequer Rs 31 crore. 
 
In comparison, the most expensive trip in <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Yearender-2015-PM-Narendra-Modi-around-the-world-in-365-days/articleshow/50382212.cms">2014-2015</a> was to Australia and Myanmar where he spent Rs 22 crore. Year 2016 has already seen him visiting Belgium, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Modi-set-to-Rock-the-US-and-meet-BFF-Obama-over-a-packed-schedule-in-his-second-visit-in-just-under-a-year/articleshow/48665427.cms">United States</a> and Saudi Arabia, following which he is expected to visit Iran sometime later this month. 
 
<a href="http://si.wsj.net/public/resources/images/BN-LC684_imodig_G_20151105015749.jpg">Image source</a>

Globetrotting Modi is building strong foreign relations, and Air India is bearing the brunt

PM <keyword id="6354642" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Modi">Modi</keyword>’s demonetisation policy may fetch good results in the long run. But currently it’s taking a severe toll on common men who are facing difficulties in getting old notes exchanged and waiting in queue at ATM only to know that there is no cash in it. Life hasn’t been so difficult for daily wagers and software engineers alike, when there is money in account but can’t be used. The irony of money couldn’t have been worse. 
 
At such a juncture, when many daily wagers haven’t eaten ample meals in last few days because they couldn’t stand in queue at the bank fearing a day’s loss of income, things aren’t better for well offs staying abroad. 
 
For the NRIs and foreigners planning a visit to India, the fun isn’t the same anymore. Earlier they would be basking in the idea of meeting Indian friends and visiting historical monuments in Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi. Now they can only think of how to get enough cash in hand. 
 Indian economy, apart from a few exceptions, is largely dependent on cash. Be it street snacks stores to ticket counters of railways at small stations. A few countries in the Middle East, <keyword id="6356662" type="COUNTRY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Singapore">Singapore</keyword>, <keyword id="8695" type="COUNTRY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Malaysia">Malaysia</keyword>, Sri Lanka, Nepal and the countries where Indian population is a bit denser, there are options to change to Indian currencies directly from local ones. Instead of changing to USD first, this foreign exchange has two benefits. Firstly there is not much loss of money in the name of exchange rate. Also you won’t have to depend on another forex office to get the dollar changed after landing in India. 
 Travel advisors make sure people visiting India change to rupee before boarding the flight. The recent demonization has left the tourists in tension. According to <keyword id="265234" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Sreyashi-Sen">Sreyashi Sen</keyword>, an entrepreneur in Singapore, all the forex offices where they would get Indian currency have stopped changing money to rupee. Leading forex like <keyword id="201800" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Mustafa">Mustafa</keyword> has also put a board outside saying ‘No INR’. 
 
Sen, planning a visit to Goa early next week would have count some extra bucks when she lands in India to get currencies changed. Moreover if among the few available forex counters in Goa are non-operative, by any chance, she would be left at the mercy of god. 
 Idmantzi, a Mexican citizen on her India trip is currently halted at Darjeeling in <keyword id="6357783" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="West-Bengal">West Bengal</keyword>. She is a solo traveller without any acquaintance in India. She was carrying a credit card from her country, which isn’t operating in India. The cash, she carried, is in Rs 500 mostly, which has been refused by the hotel and other places there. She had to ask favour from her embassy, who rushed to Darjeeling and bailed her out. 
 If these miseries aren’t enough, an old couple from <keyword id="6354925" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Kolkata">Kolkata</keyword> who went to visit their son in Malaysia had a tough time returning home from Kolkata airport. After they landed at the airport yesterday, the pre-paid counter didn’t accept the notes they carried a month back. Forget booking taxi through apps, for they don’t own a smartphone. Finally a normal yellow taxi decided to ferry them on the condition of paying full Rs 500 without any change in return. The septuagenarians had to shell out Rs 500 for a distance of mere 10 kilometres. Possessing a great sense of humour, the septuagenarian man told the author, “We don’t have any <keyword id="6356023" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Black-Money">black money</keyword>. But a note of Rs 500 at the time of economic black out.”

Not
just India, people staying in Singapore and Dubai are facing trouble over Modi’s
demonetization

Keeping aside the Whatsapp jokes that Indian Prime Minister <keyword id="6354477" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Narendra-Modi">Narendra Modi</keyword> barely spends a night in the country, the number of foreign trips that Modi and his Cabinet colleagues have taken in the last financial year (2015-16) has cost the exchequer Rs 567 crore. This amount is 80% more than what was spent on foreign trips the previous year, and doesn’t include the sum of Rs 500 crore that his bureaucrats spend on their travel each year on an average. 
 
This travel bill of the Cabinet and the PM includes the expenditure on travel by ministers, ministers of state and ex-PMs and the aircraft used by VVIPs, including the PM, President and Vice-President. 
 
At the beginning of the 2015-16 fiscal, the budget estimated this sum to be Rs 269 crore, however, the revised estimates have shown the amount to be Rs 567 crore. Other than this, the total tour expenditure of bureaucrats in the three years up to 2014-15 was over Rs 1,500 crore. 
 
The last government’s cabinet and former PM Manmohan Singh spent almost Rs 1,500 crore on travel between 2009-10 and 2013-14, in comparison to which the travel bill of the NDA government has already been estimated to be Rs 1,140 crore. 
 
To keep things under control, Modi has pledged that he would be cutting down on his foreign trips expenditure by over 54% in the next financial year, maintaining a balance with the level of UPA government's expenditure towards the end of its term. 
 
Even though Modi’s Cabinet has a lesser number of members (64) as compared to UPA's 75, his ministers have got 25% more salaries last year as compared to 2013-14. Other than this, their allowances were also respectively increased by 8% and stood at Rs 10.20 crore. 
 
Another interesting fact about these travel bills is that every year, the finance ministry announces a 10% cut in non-plan expenditure, restricting the first class travel and five-star stays by bureaucrats and a cut on foreign delegations of Union ministers, but the restrictions are lifted in the second half of the fiscal, every single year.

Modi’s cabinet is globetrotting too, spends 80% higher on travel
than last year

It’s been a week when the media has bashed the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=modi">Prime Minister Modi</a> for spending crore of rupees in his <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=foreign+visits">foreign visits</a>. Now there’s some good vibes coming from the same quarters on the same topic. 
 
Ever since Modi started his foreign trips, India has become a hot destination for Foreign Direct Investments (FDI). India has received $19.78 billion (Rs 1.3 lakh crore) in FDI in 2014-15 from a dozen major FDI source countries that Modi has visited since taking over in May last year, says a news report by The Economic Times. This accounts for nearly two-thirds of the $30.93 billion FDI the country received in the fiscal year, which was 27 % more than the year before. 
 
After the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Make+in+India">Make in India programme</a> was launched in September last year, it’s raining FDI. Data from Department of Industrial Policy and Planning shows the inflows have jumped 48% between October 2014 and April 2015 over the year-earlier period. 
 
"There has been some questions about the Modi government's performance when it comes to pace of reforms and ease of doing business," a foreign diplomat in Delhi said. But a government official from Japan, one of the countries that Modi visited and from where he got a huge investment commitment, told the ET there was no major reason to be upset about since Modi became the PM. 
 
Modi has visited 27 countries since last year. <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=japan">Japan</a> has committed to invest about $35 billion in five years and South Korea plans to invest $10 billion. <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=china">China</a> has assured $20 billion in the next five years, while France has announced $2 billion euros ($2.26 billion). The UAE, which the PM visited last month, has assured to pump in money for India's $75-billion infrastructure fund. The UK has launched a programme for investments here ahead of Modi's planned trip in November and Germany is expected to make some announcements related to the Make in India initiative during Chancellor Angela Merkel's visit to New Delhi in the first week of October. 
 
 
(image: Reuters)

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