IMF Hails India's 7.8% GDP Growth, Services & Export Surge, Global Economic Resilience

India is set to drive the diplomatic agenda ahead of the BRICS Summit in Delhi, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi holding a series of high-level bilateral meetings. Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Delhi, with talks focusing on defence, energy, and trade partnerships following their earlier meeting in Bishkek. Chinese President Xi Jinping is scheduled to arrive ahead of the summit. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian is also arriving in Delhi for bilateral discussions amid escalations in West Asia and threats to maritime energy chokepoints, including the Strait of Hormuz and Bab el-Mandeb. Prime Minister Modi will additionally hold bilateral talks with United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres and Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto. As the summit approaches, discussions highlight India's diplomatic position in engaging global leaders, supporting peace, and representing the Global South in an evolving multipolar world order.

India is hosting the 18th BRICS Summit, welcoming world leaders including Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russian Foreign Affairs Minister Sergei Lavrov. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Putin are scheduled to hold their 22nd face-to-face bilateral meeting, marking their third interaction in less than a year. The key discussions focus on bilateral trade, which stands at around 60 billion dollars with a target of reaching 100 billion dollars by 2030, alongside defence ties involving S-400 missile deliveries and fifth-generation fighter aircraft considerations. The meeting takes place amid evolving geopolitical dynamics, including Western pressure, energy trade, and regional tensions in West Asia. India continues to emphasize diplomacy, dialogue, and peaceful solutions regarding the conflict in Ukraine while safeguarding its strategic and economic interests.

Indian benchmark indices opened lower, with Nifty falling around one per cent and metals and financials facing sharp selling pressure amid rising crude oil prices, surging global bond yields, and currency depreciation. The market decline reflects broad-based global weakness, higher domestic market volatility, and continued foreign institutional investor pullbacks. Alongside opening market movements, details emerged on the National Stock Exchange Initial Public Offering, with the price band set at seventeen hundred to seventeen eighty-five rupees. The offer for sale size was scaled down to 12.64 crore shares after major institutional shareholders, including State Bank of India and Bank of Baroda, reduced their proposed offloading. In corporate updates, HDFC Bank won all seven Bahrain cases concerning Credit Suisse Additional Tier 1 bond mis-selling claims after the court cited insufficient evidence. Meanwhile, Coforge shares dropped following governance clarifications regarding board evaluation reports.

India is hosting the 18th BRICS summit in New Delhi, marking the fourth time the country has hosted the bloc's summit. Ahead of the summit's official commencement, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin are scheduled to hold a bilateral meeting at Bharat Mandapam. The agenda for the high-level talks includes bilateral trade, energy supplies, defence cooperation, nuclear partnership, and escalating tensions in West Asia. The leaders aim to increase bilateral trade from the current 60 billion dollars to 100 billion dollars by 2030, while also addressing concerns regarding the trade deficit beyond government-to-government sales. The meeting is the third bilateral interaction between the two leaders in less than a year, following previous engagements including the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Bishkek. The summit highlights India's strategic role in multipolar diplomacy and its position as a voice of the Global South.