The ongoing conflict in West Asia is going to create delays in India’s negotiations on free trade agreements (FTA) with both the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, as well as with Israel, a senior official in the Ministry of Commerce said. The FTA with the U.K., however, could be implemented by May 1 and the trade agreement with the European Union could be ratified by the European Parliament by the end of November this year, they added. Negotiations for a free trade agreement between India and the GCC countries— Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE)— were formally launched on February 24 with the signing of a joint statement by the two sides.

Iran no longer has the capacity to enrich uranium or ​make ballistic missiles after 20 days of U.S.-Israeli air ‌attacks, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told ​a news conference. “We are ⁠winning, and Iran is being decimated,” Mr. Netanyahu said, noting that Iran’s missile and drone arsenal is being massively ‌degraded and will be destroyed.

Any attacks on Qatar’s energy facilities or anything which affects energy supplies from the Middle East would impact India, but the country has diversified its sources to deal with the paradigm, Sujata Sharma, Joint-Secretary at the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoPNG) told reporters addressing concerns about the impact on India’s natural gas supplies going forward as Iran attacked Qatar’s Ras Laffan Industrial City.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Sultan Haitham bin Tariq of Oman and his Malaysian counterpart Anwar Ibrahim, and discussed with them the West Asia situation, favouring de-escalation of the conflict in the region and subsequent restoration of peace and stability. In his separate telephonic conversations with the two leaders, Mr. Modi also stressed the need for safe and free navigation through the Strait of Hormuz.

The government launched the ₹497 crore Resilience & Logistics Intervention for Export Facilitation (RELIEF) scheme to provide credit insurance cover for exporters whose goods are stranded due to the West Asia crisis, or who are planning to export to the Gulf over the next few months. The insurance premia under this scheme would be at pre-conflict rates and the focus would be MSME beneficiaries. While announcing the scheme, the officials of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry acknowledged the hardship being faced by Indian exporters due to the constraints created by the war in West Asia, and said that the RELIEF scheme was aimed at alleviating this and providing them with surety about their exports.

A number of people who post content critical of the government on their X accounts were greeted late evening with an email from the social media platform, telling them that their accounts were now withheld in India. The reason: a takedown order issued by the Union government under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, 2000. The accounts, many of which are run pseudonymously, posted memes and other content criticising the government in the weeks and months leading up to their handles being censored. The accounts and posts remain visible to X users outside India.

Nearly 1,000 Indians are still in Iran amidst the ongoing conflict in West Asia while 23,000 school students based in Gulf region could not appear in the CBSE final examinations due to the turmoil. This was conveyed by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs at a meeting held in New Delhi.

India and Pakistan relations remain at risk for nuclear conflict, according to the Annual Threat Assessment of the U.S. Intelligence Community presented to the U.S. Senate. According to the 34-page report, though India and Pakistan do not seek to open conflict, conditions exist for terrorist actors to continue to create catalysts for crises.

India has appointed Vikram K. Doraiswami as the next Ambassador to China, the Ministry of External Affairs announced. Mr. Doraiswami is currently the High Commissioner of India to the United Kingdom. Currently, Pradeep Kumar Rawat is serving as India’s Ambassador to China.

Four of five recent defectors from Congress, including an MP and three MLAs, have found their way into the Bharatiya Janata Party’s list of 88 candidates for the April 9 Assembly election in Assam. Missing from the first list, released by the BJP’s central office in New Delhi, are 19 MLAs, including Deputy Assembly Speaker Numal Momin (Bokajan constituency), Minister Nandita Garlosa (Haflong), and Phanidhar Talukdar, who defected after winning the 2021 polls from Bhabanipur on an All India United Democratic Front ticket.

With the Centre yet to notify the formula for determining State‑wise normative allocations under the Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Act, 2025, at least 24 States and Union Territories have nevertheless earmarked funds for the new rural employment programme. Under the Act, States must bear 40% of the scheme’s expenditure, except in the northeastern and hilly States and UTs such as Jammu & Kashmir, which receive a relaxation.

Indian stock markets experienced a meltdown, crashing over 3%, as oil spiked to $114 a barrel and U.S. Fed reserve signalled higher inflation. This was the worst day since June 2024, when markets crashed over 5% in a session. This is also the fifth instance since 2021, when benchmark indices dipped lower than 3%. The sudden slump towards the final trading hours was due to soaring Brent crude futures price hitting a new high of $114 a barrel and the rupee depreciating to a new low of ₹92.89 a dollar.

The FBI is investigating whether Joe Kent, who resigned his position as a top U.S. counterterrorism official this week in protest of the Iran war, improperly shared classified information, a person familiar with the matter said. The investigation precedes Mr. Kent’s resignation on Tuesday from his role as director of the U.S. government’s National Counterterrorism Centre, said the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing FBI inquiry.

A nine-judge Bench of the Supreme Court reserved judgment on whether educational institutions, hospitals, and sovereign functions of the government and its instrumentalities would fall within the definition of ‘industrial activity’ under the Industrial Disputes Act.

U.S. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said there is no “time frame” for ending the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran, which was launched three weeks ago. “We wouldn’t want to set a definitive time frame,” Mr. Hegseth told a news conference, adding that “we’re very much on track” and that President Donald Trump will be the one to decide when to stop. Mr. Hegseth also addressed a report that the Pentagon has requested more than $200 billion in additional funding from Congress to pay for the conflict. “As far as $200 billion, I think that number could move. Obviously it takes money to kill bad guys,” Mr. Hegseth said.

A civil society group comprising eminent Muslims wrote to Union Home Minister Amit Shah over “open threats” to the Muslim community in Uttam Nagar in Delhi, and urged him to pass special instructions to the police to take strict action. The letter by Citizens for Fraternity (CFF) was signed by former Delhi lieutenant governor Najeeb Jung, ex-AMU vice chancellor Zamir Uddin Shah, former MP Shahid Siddiqui, industrialist Saeed Shervani, former customs commissioner Syed Mahmood Akhter.

The COVID-19 pandemic’s early death toll was much higher than the official U.S. count, according to a new study that spotlights dramatic disparities in the uncounted deaths. About 840,000 COVID-19 deaths were reported on death certificates in 2020 and 2021. But a group of researchers — using a form of artificial intelligence — estimate that as many as 155,000 unrecognized additional deaths likely occurred in that time outside of hospitals. That would mean about 16% of COVID-19 deaths went uncounted in those years.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said it has taken note of the recent developments in HDFC Bank, where its part-time chairman Atanu Chakrabort had resigned. It said a transition arrangement as requested by the Bank has been approved as regards the position of part-time chairman of the Bank.

Heavy social media use is harming young people’s well-being in many countries, according to a U.N.-backed World Happiness report released, which also ranked Finland as the world’s happiest country for the ninth consecutive year. This year’s World Happiness Report highlighted the impact of social media as many countries impose or mull legislative restrictions on social media use for young people.