Mōrena and welcome to your Tuesday briefing of international business and political news.
First up, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin have reinforced economic ties between the two nations, as the United States criticises India’s purchase of Russian oil, the Associated Press and ABC reported.
Modi and Putin held talks at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) gathering in Tianjin, China. Modi described the relationship with Russia as "special and privileged". Putin addressed Modi as a "dear friend".
"Russia and India have maintained special relations for decades. Friendly, trusting. This is the foundation for the development of our relations in the future," Putin said.
"These relations are absolutely non-partisan in nature, supported by the overwhelming majority of the peoples of our countries."
US President Donald Trump claimed India offered to reduce tariffs on US goods to zero. Trump recently imposed a 50% tariff on Indian goods and criticised India for buying Russian oil, Al Jazeera reported.
“What few people understand is that we do very little business with India, but they do a tremendous amount of business with us. In other words, they sell us massive amounts of goods, their biggest ‘client,’ but we sell them very little,” Trump said on Truth Social.
“They have now offered to cut their Tariffs to nothing, but it’s getting late. They should have done so years ago,” he claimed. India has yet to comment on Trump’s recent remarks, Al Jazeera noted.
At the China gathering of leaders, President Xi Jinping took aim at the US – criticising “bullying practices” – and pitched his country as a new leader of world governance, CNN reported.
“The house rules of a few countries should not be imposed on others,” Xi said.
He pledged two billion yuan in grants to SCO member states this year, and an additional 10 billion yuan in loans, CNN said.
US President Donald Trump.
Meanwhile, a plane carrying European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has been hit by radar jamming in a suspected Russian operation, the ABC reported.
EU Commission spokesperson Arianna Podestà said the GPS system of the plane to Bulgaria was jammed. "We have received information from the Bulgarian authority that they suspect this was due to blatant interference by Russia."
Norway agreed a £10b ($23b) deal for anti-submarine warships to be built in the UK, as the two countries plan joint operations in northern Europe after increased Russian activity, the Guardian reported.
The Type 26 frigates will be built at BAE Systems shipyards in Glasgow.
In Afghanistan, the Taliban government appealed for urgent aid to deal with the aftermath of Sunday's deadly earthquake, the BBC reported. The country’s interior ministry reported more than 600 deaths. Landslides caused by the quake had made hard-hit areas difficult to reach. Helicopters were deployed to rescue survivors.
Afghanistan had already been hit by severe drought, aid cuts, and flash floods, the BBC said.
Iran’s currency sharply depreciated again as European nations pushed to reinstate sanctions against the country. But the Iranian government and central bank said the decline of the currency was not because of a drop in economic activity, but a “psychological reaction” to deteriorating political conditions, Al Jazeera reported.
France, Germany, and the UK had triggered a “snapback” mechanism that could trigger UN sanctions. Iran had long maintained that its nuclear programme was peaceful.
Nestlé KitKat.
Finally, food manufacturer Nestlé dismissed chief executive Laurent Freixe after a code of conduct breach, CNBC and Reuters reported.
His departure followed an investigation into an undisclosed romantic relationship with a direct subordinate, which breached the company’s code of business conduct. Freixe took over the CEO role in September last year.
“This was a necessary decision,” chair Paul Bulcke said. “Nestlé’s values and governance are strong foundations of our company. I thank Laurent for his years of service.”
