US President Donald Trump hinted that the US-India trade deal could look different from the previous ones. Follow DW for more.
Here’s a roundup of our coverage from India from Wednesday, October 21:
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The Delhi High Court on Wednesday questioned the pleas filed by Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka challenging proceedings over alleged breaches of bonds to maintain peace
The court allowed Das and Ranka to withdraw their pleas challenging the custody proceedings after both requested permission to do on Wednesday.
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Justice Subramonium Prasad, addressing Das and Ranka’s counsel Abhik Chimni, observed that the bond furnished on October 10 was allegedly breached the very next day, October 11, according to a report by Indian newspaper The Indian Express.
Chimni argued that Das and Ranka should not have to spend another two days in custody, questioning the legality of the October 19 order which extended their initial five days of judicial custody. He contended that the magistrate lacked jurisdiction to extend their custody.
The CJP leaders were arrested on October 14 for trespassing into Jantar Mantar and hoisting the national flag as a sign of protest. Their extended judicial custody is supposed to end today.
The CJP leadership had called for protests demanding the removal of Chief Election Commissioner for his alleged role in mass voter roll revisions that led to the deletion of 130 million names from electoral rolls.
A man from the ethnic Kuki community was shot dead in a forested area in Manipur’s Kangpokpi district on Tuesday, a day after three Meitei villagers were shot dead allegedly by “militants.”
The incident occurred when the man and one other person were heading to gather bamboo shoots, according to a report by Indian newspaper The Indian Express.
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The victim sustained fatal gunshot injuries and died on the spot, while the other man managed to escape unhurt.
The attacks between the Hindu Meitei majority and largely Christian Kuki minority are the latest in prolonged ethnic violence in Manipur since 2023 over economic benefits and job quotas.
United Nations experts on Tuesday called for an independent investigation into Indian authorities’ crackdown on protesters, saying demonstrators sustained injuries and some reported being subjected to ill-treatment.
The experts urged Indian authorities to respect, protect, and fulfill the right to peaceful protest and to ensure justice for alleged human rights violations reported during these and previous demonstrations.
“We have repeatedly alerted the Indian authorities to undue restrictions on peaceful assembly, excessive use of force, arbitrary detentions, enforced disappearances, and the targeting of student activists, amongst others,” the experts said.
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“Despite the non-violent nature of the assemblies, law enforcement agencies have reportedly deployed force against unarmed students, including lathi charges and have prevented thousands from joining the protests,” the experts added.
The statement by the UN experts follows a police crackdown on protesters in Delhi who are demanding the resignation of India’s election chief, Gyanesh Kumar, over alleged vote theft and mass voter deletions from electoral rolls.
US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said that Washington and New Delhi are pretty close to concluding the trade deal that has been under discussion for more than a year.
Trump said the deal “could be a much different kind of deal,” hinting that the agreement between India and the US could differ from earlier trade pacts.
“They want to make a deal. We’re going to make a deal. Pretty close, yeah,” Bloomberg cited Trump as he addressed journalists at the White House.
Trump’s remarks come while US Secretary Marco Rubio is on a two-day visit to India. The visit is widely seen as an attempt by Washington to repair relations amid tensions between the US and India over visa restrictions and tariff threats.
Alleviating concerns, Rubio on Tuesday said the tariffs are not meant to “punish India” and the visa restrictions are “not targeted” at the country.
“I think we’re incredibly close. The way I would say it is, we are weeks, not months, away from, I think, finalising it. I think 99% of the work is done. The remaining factor, you have to have 100% done. But I feel very positive of the trajectory that it’s on,” he said in an interview with Indian newspaper The Indian Express.
Hello! This is Midhat from DW’s New Delhi Bureau bringing you all the important updates from across India.
India is hosting US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on his second official visit to the country this year. Rubio, who arrived in Mumbai, met Indian Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar on Tuesday.
During the meeting, Rubio and Jaishankar exchanged views on various topics, including trade, defense, technology and energy security. Following his meeting with Jaishankar, Rubio said that the India-US trade deal is “incredibly close.”
Today, Rubio is scheduled to visit the world’s largest oil refinery, owned by billionaire Mukesh Ambani, in the western state of Gujarat.
Meanwhile, the United Nations has taken note of the crackdown on protests in the past few weeks and urged Indian authorities to cease the use of “excessive force” against unarmed protesters.
Stay tuned as we bring you more deets from India.