In Delhi feiert die EU das Freihandelsabkommen als historischen Befreiungsschlag. Die Erwartungen sind groß, auch die deutsche Autoindustrie hofft auf Impulse. Ob die Goldgräberstimmung anhält, wenn die Europäer Indiens raue Wirklichkeit kennenlernen?

The bandhgala jacket will no longer be part of the formal uniform for Indian Railways staff, following claims it symbolises a ‘colonial mindset’

It is one India’s most ubiquitous garments, with origins in the grand Mughal courts and Rajasthani kingdoms of times past, and still widely favoured by sharply dressed grooms at wedding receptions.

But this week, the distinctive high-collared bandhgala jacket – known to many as the “princely jacket” in a nod to its royal origins – found itself at the centre of a lively debate after it was denounced by the Indian railways minister as a symbol of a “colonial mindset”.

Delhi is world’s second largest purchaser of Russian crude, which is now cheaper than oil from Middle East

Russia is already working to circumvent the latest US sanctions to ensure India can continue to import high levels of cheap Russian crude oil, according to industry analysts.

Since the outbreak of the Ukraine war, India has become the world’s second largest purchaser of Russian crude oil, which has been heavily discounted due to the impact of western sanctions.

Friedrich Merz besucht Indien noch vor China. Premier Modi weiß das zu schätzen. Heikle Themen werden umschifft – stattdessen winkt ein Milliardengeschäft für die mitgereisten deutschen Unternehmer.

A globally unique programme allowed the poor to demand – and get – jobs, empowering rural women. Narendra Modi courts trouble by hollowing it out

Few countries have attempted anything as ambitious as India’s rural jobs guarantee. Under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, any adult in the countryside who demanded work was entitled to a job on local public works within 15 days, failing which the government had to pay an unemployment allowance. Enacted in 2005, MGNREGA created the world’s most far-reaching legal right to employment. It generates 2bn person-days of work a year for about 50m households. Over half of all workers were women, and about 40% came from Dalit and tribal communities.

For a country where vast numbers rely on seasonal farm work, the scheme mattered. It stabilised incomes, raised rural wages, expanded women’s bargaining power and reduced internal migration. Households could demand up to 100 days of paid work at a statutory minimum wage, turning employment into an enforceable right. The World Bank derided it as a “barrier to development” in 2009 – but praised it as “stellar” five years later. India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, has however replaced this rights-based system with a centrally managed welfare scheme, VB-G RAM G, a shift opposed by the Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz and the inequality scholar Thomas Piketty.

Opposition claims SIR process being used to disenfranchise minority groups to benefit Narendra Modi’s government

India’s political opposition has warned that democracy is under threat amid a controversial exercise to revise the voter register across the country, which critics say will disenfranchise minority voters and entrench the power of the ruling Narendra Modi government.

An debate erupted in India’s parliament last week over the special intensive revision (SIR) process, which is taking place in nine states and three union territories, in one of the biggest revisions of the country’s electoral roll in decades.

Italian prime minister’s charity sale may also feature presents from Narendra Modi, Viktor Orbán and Volodymyr Zelenskyy

Passing on unwanted presents might be considered a little discourteous – unless it’s done the right way.

Italy’s prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, will offload 270 gifts given to her by world leaders during her travels abroad, which could include a chainsaw-wielding statuette of Javier Milei, the Argentinian president, or a pair of blue python skin shoes with gold heels, in a charity auction.

Der indische Premier Narendra Modi empfängt Kremlchef Wladimir Putin mit allen Ehren – und einem Bekenntnis zum Frieden. Das Signal in Richtung Westen ist trotzdem: Hier treffen sich zwei, die viel gemeinsam haben.