The United States has reportedly canceled $21 million in funding intended to increase voter turnout in India. BJP leader Amit Malviya criticized the funding, calling it external interference in India’s electoral process. Malviya questioned the purpose of the grant and suggested it would not benefit the BJP. He accused the Congress party and businessman George Soros of attempting to influence Indian elections through such funding. The decision to cancel the funding was reportedly made by a department under Elon Musk’s jurisdiction. Speaking to reporters, Musk explained that India has signi

Pakistan wants to remove all Afghan refugees from the country and their expulsion is imminent, the Afghan embassy in Islamabad warned Wednesday.The embassy issued a strongly worded statement about Pakistan’s plans, saying Afghan nationals in the capital, Islamabad, and the nearby garrison city of Rawalpindi have been subjected to arrests, searches, and orders from the police to leave the twin cities and relocate to other parts of Pakistan. “This process of detaining Afghans, which began without any formal announcement, has not been officially communicated to the Embassy of Afghanistan in

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has warned Google that legal action will be taken against the company if it presents the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America on a map for US-based users.Sheinbaum stated that the order issued by former President Trump applies only to the part of the Gulf controlled by the US. She added that Mexico is awaiting a response from Google to ensure that the company fully restores the name "Gulf of Mexico" on its Google Maps before legal action is pursued. The Mexican official emphasized that under no circumstances will Mexico accept the renaming of any geograph

Top Russian and American officials met in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday to begin talks on improving ties and negotiating an end to thewar in Ukraine. The meeting at the Diriyah Palace in Riyadh marks another pivotal step by the Trump administrationto reverse U.S. policyon isolating Russia and is meant to pave the way for a meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Trump earlier this month upended U.S. policy toward Ukraine and Russia by saying he andPutinhad agreed to begin negotiations on ending the war. Ukrainian officials aren’t taking part in the meeting

A plane with 112 Indians, who were deported from the United States for illegally residing in the country, landed in Amritsar on Sunday night, the third such arrival in a span of 10 days as part of the Donald Trump administration's crackdown on such immigrants. The flight C-17 Globemaster aircraft of the US Air Force landed at the Amritsar International Airport at around 10.03 pm, according to sources. Of the total deportees, 31 are from Punjab, 44 from Haryana, 33 from Gujarat, two from Uttar Pradesh and one each from Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. The first round of deportation had taken

A special flight from the United States carrying 119 deported Indian nationals is expected to arrive at Sri Guru Ram Dass Jee International Airport in Amritsar on Saturday. This is the second US flight carrying the deportees to India following a crackdown on illegal immigrants by the US government. According to sources, the majority of deportees are from Punjab, with 67 individuals returning to the state. Haryana follows with 33 deportees. Gujarat accounts for eight, Uttar Pradesh three, and Goa, Maharashtra and Rajasthan two each. Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir have one returnee each

US President Donald Trump is expected to announce reciprocal tariffs today. These measures would impose the same tariff rates on goods from countries that levy import duties on US products. Trump had pledged such tariffs during his election campaign. The new tariffs are expected to disproportionately affect developing countries, including India, Brazil, Vietnam, and several Southeast Asian and African nations, where tariff rates on US goods are notably higher than those imposed by the US. For instance, World Bank data from 2022 shows the US average tariff rate on imports from India was 3%, co

Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly is travelling to Europe today. The minister will be in Europe until Feb. 18, traveling to France, Germany and Belgium to take part in conferences, meet with officials to discuss topics like geopolitical conflicts and foreign interference and speak in a roundtable on Arctic security. Joly will start her trip in Paris on Thursday, where she and Canada's newly-appointed Special Envoy for Syria Omar Alghabra will attend the Paris Conference on Syria. While in Paris, the minister will meet with Jean-Noël Barrot, minister for Europe and foreign affairs of Fra

The US will soon deport another batch of 170-180 illegal immigrants to India. This would be the second batch of immigrants to be deported by the US government. Earlier this month, 104 Indian migrants were deported from the US. Though official confirmation from Indian officials is awaited, the US administration sources have said that the deportation could take place this week only. Earlier, the first batch had landed at the Shri Guru Ramdas Ji International Airport in Amritsar. However, no confirmation yet on where the second batch will land. The US action comes as Prime Minister Narendra Mod