India’s defense secretary says a deal has been signed to supply Vietnam with BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles. Meanwhile, retail inflation could hit Indians hard soon. Follow DW for more.
Here is a roundup of some of the top headlines that have India talking on Sunday, May 31:
Tired of missing our real-time updates? Click here to add us as a Preferred Source on Google.Then tap the “Star” or “Preferred” to keep DW News at the top of your feed.
The nonprofit “GoodVision” is bringing eye care to underserved regions in India, where about 250 million people need glasses but have no access to treatment.
The organization holds free eye exams and provides glasses for less than two dollars, opening up new opportunities for education, employment and independent living.
Take a look at the full story in this gallery:
Six people died and at least eight others were injured after a multi-storey building collapsed in South Delhi.
A total of 14 people have been pulled from the rubble of the building, according to local media reports, six of whom died of their injuries.
The rescue operation has concluded, officials said, after all the missing were accounted for and the site was searched.
Rescue teams used heavy machinery, hydraulic cutters, victim-location cameras, and sniffer dogs during the search, officials said.
The collapsed building housed a coaching institute, cafes and offices.
Construction work was reportedly underway on the building’s upper floor at the time of the incident, which occurred on Saturday evening.
Canada’s High Commissioner to India, Chris Cooter, has said he is confident a trade deal with India can be finalized.
“The free trade agreement will happen. I have no doubt,” Cooter said, according to Canadian broadcaster CBC News.
Cooter’s Indian counterpart, Dinesh Patnaik, also confirmed that the negotiations are progressing.
Both officials said they were optimistic about a breakthrough in the negotiations during a business summit in Regina, Canada.
The comments came days after India’s Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said the two countries were looking to conclude negotiations on a free trade agreement before the end of this year.
The two countries have renewed their engagement on trade in recent months after their relations soured over Canadian allegations linking Indian agents to the killing of Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in British Columbia.
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
General NS Raja Subramani took charge as India’s new chief of defense staff on Sunday.
He took over the post after General Anil Chauhan signed off after completing his tenure as the country’s senior-most military commander on Saturday.
“I am honored to assume charge as the chief of defense staff. We are committed to implementing the prime minister’s vision of JAI — Jointness, Atma Nirbharta [self-reliance] and Innovation,” General Subramani said as reported by Indian news outlet India Today.
General Subramani served in the Indian army for over four decades and is widely known as an expert on Pakistan and China. He retired as the vice chief of army staff on July 31 last year.
Trinamool Congress MP Kalyan Banerjee was allegedly heckled in front of a police station in West Bengal’s Hooghly district.
Banerjee has alleged that Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)workers attacked him while he was on his way to the police station.
“I was coming alone. BJP members used abusive language and hit me on the head with a deuce ball. My head is bleeding… Now people will decide whether it is right or wrong that MPs are being continuously targeted,” Banerjee said.
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
“All this happened in front of the police. I was hit on my head, and I am bleeding,” he said, according to a report by the Press Trust of India news agency.
The incident comes a day after Trinamool Congress leader Abhishek Banerjee was allegedly attacked in Sonapur, in West Bengal.
The BJP recently won the state elections, handing Trinamool Congress a crushing defeat.
The polls were overshadowed by debates over the revision of electoral rolls.
The exercise was formally intended to remove duplicate or ineligible voters and address other discrepancies. It led to the removal of millions of names from the electoral rolls.
Opposition parties and other critics have alleged that the exercise disproportionately affected minority voters and their strongholds.
India could see a rise in living costs as a result of recent fuel price hikes and a weaker monsoon outlook, the country’s Finance Ministry said in a report, as energy supply disruptions continue because of the Middle East conflict.
The duration of the Strait of Hormuz disruption remains the “single most consequential variable” for India’s external and price outlook, the report said. “The inflation dynamics of April 2026 reflect a growing divergence between relatively contained consumer prices and sharply rising wholesale prices.”
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
While retail inflation increased only marginally to 3.48% and remained below the Reserve Bank of India’s 4% target, price pressures intensified in select food items and services such as restaurants and accommodation, the report said. ”The sharp rise in upstream price pressures, along with recent increases in fuel prices, suggests a gradual pass-through to retail inflation through higher transport, energy, and food-related costs in the coming months.”
India has signed a deal with Vietnam under which it will supply BrahMos missiles, which it has jointly developed with Russia, Defense Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh said.
“With Vietnam, I understand that it [the deal] has already been signed, probably not publicly announced,” Singh said at the Shangri-La Dialogue security summit in Singapore. But it’s already been signed.”
He added that India is in “final stages” for a similar deal with Indonesia.
The Philippines was the first foreign buyer of the BrahMos missile system from India, signing a deal worth $375 million in 2022.
The deal with Vietnam could be worth about 60 billion rupees ($629 million), including training and logistical support, Reuters news agency has previously reported.
Speaking at the Shangri-La defense forum, Singh said that India has a strong commitment to the ASEAN nations, “and we treat all of you as ‘friendly foreign countries’ with whom we can share advanced defense technologies.”
Good morning! This is Midhat from New Delhi, enjoying the respite rain brought after a long stretch of searing heat and bringing you the latest from India today.
Under a new deal, India will be supplying Vietnam with BrahMos missiles, which it developed in collaboration with Russia.
The recent fuel price hikes and below-normal monsoon rains are likely to lead to an increase in the cost of living in India.
Meanwhile, India has appointed a new chief of defence staff.
Stay tuned with us as we bring you the latest developments from India.
To catch up on Saturday’s news from India, go to our blog.
Leave a Reply