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Voters back President Mohamed Muizzu’s tilt towards China and away from traditional ally IndiaMaldives voters have backed President Mohamed Muizzu’s tilt towards China and away from traditional benefactor India, with his party winning control of parliament in an election landslide.Muizzu’s People’s National Congress (PNC) won 66 of the first 86 seats declared, according to the Elections Commission of Maldives, already more than enough for...

For the first time, government military spending increased in all five geographical regions, Sipri thinktank findsGlobal military expenditure has reached a record high of $2440bn (£1970bn) after the largest annual rise in government spending on arms in over a decade, according to a report.The 6.8% increase between 2022 and 2023 was the steepest since 2009, pushing spending to the highest recorded by the Stockholm...

Experts say Indian PM is hoping to be ‘bigger than Gandhi’ as he aims to win a third term in officeAs the distant rumble of a helicopter drew closer, cheers erupted from the gathered crowds in anticipation. By the time India’s prime minister finally stepped on to the stage, bowing deeply while immaculately dressed in a white kurta and peach waistcoat and with a...

Exclusive: India seeking to use approach of UK election as bargaining chip and any exemption would be controversialIndia is demanding an exemption from the UK’s planned carbon tax as part of negotiations aiming to finalise a free trade deal before the UK election.India’s negotiating team have spent this week in London in a surprise set of talks to try to overcome the remaining hurdles...

First phase in world’s largest democratic exercise begins, with 969 million people eligible to vote over six-week periodVoting has begun in India’s mammoth general election, as Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata party hopes to increase its parliamentary majority amid allegations that the country’s democracy has been undermined since it came to power 10 years ago.India’s elections are the largest democratic exercise in the world, with...

Scientists estimate Vasuki indicus was up to 15m long, weighed a tonne and would have constricted its preyFossil vertebrae unearthed in a mine in western India are the remains of one of the largest snakes that ever lived, a monster estimated at up to 15 metres in length – longer than a T rex.Scientists have recovered 27 vertebrae from the snake, including a few...

Two men from Bishnoi gang, whose leader has threatened to kill Salman Khan, arrested over Mumbai shootingTwo members of a criminal gang have been arrested by Indian police for firing at the home of the Bollywood actor Salman Khan in retaliation for the star’s killing of two antelopes.The Bishnoi gang, accused of several murders and extortion rackets, hails from a wider desert-based religious sect...

CSIS intelligence report suggests growing number of countries targeting country’s large diaspora populationsCanada’s spy agency has declared that the governments of India and Pakistan probably attempted to meddle in its elections.As a closely watched public inquiry investigates the scope of foreign interference, on Thursday night the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) released a report suggesting a growing number of countries see Canada – and...

Defence minister’s comments after Guardian report are first time India has acknowledged any assassinations on foreign soilIndia’s defence minister has appeared to confirm that the government carried out extrajudicial killings in neighbouring Pakistan, after a Guardian report on the alleged assassinations.Intelligence officials from India and Pakistan who spoke to the Guardian had alleged that India’s foreign intelligence agency, Research and Analysis Wing (Raw), had...

Allegations of up to 20 assassinations since 2020 follow Canada’s accusation of Delhi role in murders of dissidentsThe Indian government assassinated individuals in Pakistan as part of a wider strategy to eliminate terrorists living on foreign soil, according to Indian and Pakistani intelligence operatives who spoke to the Guardian.Interviews with intelligence officials in both countries, as well as documents shared by Pakistani investigators, shed...

Opposition parties accuse government of ‘match fixing’ for elections over Arvind Kejriwal treatmentDelhi’s chief minister, a key opposition leader, must remain in custody for a further two weeks, a court has ruled, with India’s opposition parties accusing the government of “match fixing” before the country’s elections later this month.On Monday, a court ruled that Arvind Kejriwal, the chief minister of Delhi, could remain in...

Parties unite at New Dehli rally to accuse PM of ‘tax terrorism’ and rigging the vote, after arrest of prominent leaderIndian opposition parties united on Sunday to protest against the arrest of a prominent leader weeks before a national election, accusing the prime minister, Narendra Modi, and his party of rigging the vote and harassing them with large tax demands.“Narendra Modi is trying match-fixing...

US called for fair legal process for opposition figure Arvind Kejriwal amid claims that challengers to Narendra Modi are being targeted ahead of national electionsIndia has summoned a top US diplomat after Washington warned it to ensure a “fair, transparent and timely legal process” for a senior opposition leader jailed just weeks ahead of parliamentary elections.The US state department had said it was “closely...

Judge says Arvind Kejriwal can be held until next Thursday, as his party’s leaders condemn accusations as politically motivated An Indian court has ruled that Delhi’s chief minister, Arvind Kejriwal, will be kept in custody for six days after his dramatic arrest on corruption charges.Kejriwal, the top elected official for the Indian capital, was taken in by police on Thursday night as part of...

Aam Aadmi party leader Arvind Kejriwal is held as part of corruption case a month before electionsDelhi’s chief minister, Arvind Kejriwal, has been arrested in a corruption case, a move condemned by his party as a “conspiracy” by Narendra Modi’s government to target the opposition before next month’s elections.Kejriwal, who is the leader of the Aam Aadmi party (AAP) and has been Delhi’s chief...

Modi favourite to win third term in largest democratic exercise in history held across six weeks India is to hold a national election in April it has been announced, in what will be the world’s largest election with nearly a billion people eligible to vote.Many consider Modi’s re-election a foregone conclusion, owing to both the premier’s robust popularity a decade after taking office and...

Party of Indian prime minister was by far biggest beneficiary of electoral bonds, which were struck down as unconstitutionalIndia’s election commission has published details of hundreds of millions of dollars worth of political donations, exposing how much prime minister Narendra Modi’s party benefited from a controversial financing scheme.According to the data that was released, Modi’s Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) received more than 60bn rupees...

CBC aired an investigation into the death of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, whose killing the Canadian government suspects India was behindIndia has ordered prominent video-sharing platforms to block access to a new Canadian documentary probing the assassination of a prominent Sikh activist in Vancouver, in a move that highlights India’s mounting frustration with the allegations its government was behind the high-profile killing.The request marks the...

Citizenship amendment act grants Indian nationality to refugees who are Hindu, Christian, Parsi, Jain or Buddhist, but not MuslimThe Indian government has enacted a divisive citizenship law that critics say discriminates against Muslims, just weeks before prime minister Narendra Modi heads into a general election.The law, known as the citizenship amendment act (CAA), was one of the most controversial pieces of legislation proposed by...

Thousands of police mobilised for Srinagar rally seen as Modi’s campaign event for elections India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, has made his first visit to Kashmir since the government revoked the region’s autonomy in 2019, claiming the state was finally “breathing freely” despite allegations of systematic repression.Thousands of police and paramilitary officers were mobilised before Modi’s first rally there for more than five years,...

Exclusive: Team will try to resolve goods and services issues amid fears Delhi is holding out for a Labour governmentBritish negotiators have flown to India in a last-ditch attempt to clinch a trade deal amid concerns that Narendra Modi’s administration intends to hold out for a Labour government.A team of negotiators led by a senior civil servant flew out on Monday with a mandate...

On his 4,000-mile march across the country, congressman tells voters to wake up to the vast gulf between them and the richHis voice hoarse from all the speeches he had made during his 4,000-mile march across the breadth of India, Rahul Gandhi urged people at a rally in Uttar Pradesh state to think hard.Specifically, to think hard about caste. “Are there any of you...

Junior minister accuses tech firm of violating country’s IT laws with ‘downright malicious’ answersA response from Google’s AI platform suggesting that some experts believe the policies of the Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi, polices to be “fascist” has provoked a confrontation between the company and the government.The journalist Arnab Ray last week put the question as to whether Modi was a fascist to Google’s...

Inquiry ordered after 50-carriage freight train set off on its own when driver disembarked at station in JammuIndian Railways has ordered an investigation after a runaway freight train loaded with gravel travelled 43 miles (70km) without a driver.About 50 carriages set off solo on Sunday, from the northern state of Jammu and Kashmir to Punjab, before being brought to a halt by wooden blocks...