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PM Narendra Modi reaches Qingdao for SCO Summit India and China today signed two bilateral agreements during a meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Qingdao, China. The agreements include continuing to share Brahmaputra water data during flood season and exporting non-basmati rice to China. The meeting was held on the sidelines of the 18th Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit beginning tomorrow. Prime Minister Modi reached Qingdao, the Eastern Chinese coastal city this afternoon to attend the SCO summit. This will be India’s first participation as a full member of the 8 nation SCO grouping which includes India, China and Russia as its members. In another bi-lateral, the Prime Minister met Uzbekistan President Shavkat Mirziyoyev on the sidelines of SCO summit. In a tweet, Mr Modi said, they reviewed the full range of India-Uzbekistan friendship, especially ways to boost economic and cultural cooperation. He said, the ties between the ...

The Australia Group (AG) is an informal forum of countries which, through the harmonisation of export controls, seeks to ensure that exports do not contribute to the development of chemical or biological weapons.

The latest round of UN-led climate talks has opened in Bonn with delegates from almost 200 countries in attendance. Over the next two weeks, negotiators hope to clarify the rule book of the Paris climate agreement.

The United Nations Security Council will hold a closed-door session today on the violence in the Rakhine state of Myanmar. The meeting was requested by Britain and Sweden. The exodus from Rakine state began after Rohingya militants attacked police posts on the 25th of last month, prompting a military backlash that forced nearly 3 lakh 70,000 Rohingya Muslims to flee their homes. Last week, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres wrote a letter to the Council urging members to send a message to Myanmar authorities to end the security operation. Two leading human rights groups, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, have slammed the Council for inaction over the crisis. They deplored the Council's failure to speak out and demand an end to the violence.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj today arrived in Russian port city of Vladivostok on a three-day visit to attend the third Eastern Economic Forum which will deliberate on pressing issues relating to global trade. She will also hold bilateral talks with her Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov during which various issues relating to trade, investment and defence cooperation are likely to figure. Swaraj is visiting Russia at the invitation of Deputy Prime Minister and Presidential Plenipotentiary Envoy to the Far Eastern Federal District Yury Trutnev. The Eastern Economic Forum is considered as the biggest international communication platform for cooperation between businesses leaders and senior government representatives from Russia, the Pacific Region and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Delegates from at least 24 countries including the US, Japan, China, Australia, Canada, Britain and Germany are attending the gathering.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will be in Colombo on a two-day visit to participate in Indian Ocean Conference (ICO) beginign from Thursday. The Sri Lankan Prime Minister and President are among key speakers in the event on the theme of peace, progress and prosperity. The two-day conference will have speakers from 25 countries and representatives from around 35 countries are expected to participate in the event. This will be second ICO conference, the first one held in Singapore last year. It is being co-hosted by the India Foundation, a Delhi-based think tank, in collaboration with RSIS, Singapore, and NIFS, Colombo, both research and study centers.