BRICS finance ministers and central bank governors met in Jaipur, India, on August 12 and 13, 2026, as the bloc considered links among national payment systems. Iran said it would soon join the New Development Bank, but the lender’s public membership list does not include it.
US Assistant Secretary of State S. Paul Kapur began a weeklong trip to India and three Central Asian countries on August 5, with trade, investment and supply-chain resilience on the agenda. The visit follows two years of US efforts to turn the C5+1 diplomatic forum toward critical-minerals projects, although many deposits and deals remain at an early stage.
India ordered senior Meta executives to explain why a Facebook video posted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi was briefly restricted on July 28. Meta restored the post and blamed an error, but Indian officials sought both a policy and technical account of the incident.
Former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said on July 29 that she intended to return from India by December despite facing a death sentence. Bangladesh has requested her extradition, but India has not announced a decision.
Indian scientist and author Srijan Pal Singh called for India to spread AI resources beyond its elite engineering institutes in a July 2026 interview. He said broader university participation and private-sector competition would reduce dependence on a small group of institutions.
Kenya's mining minister ordered Tata Chemicals Magadi to halt mining at Lake Magadi on July 29, 2026, citing seven unresolved compliance issues. The company must document compliance and settle outstanding liabilities before operations can resume.
The United States imposed new tariffs of 10 percent to 12.5 percent on imports from 60 economies on July 25, 2026. India entered the lower tier after adopting a forced-labor import ban, while most investigated economies face 12.5 percent.
