[🇮🇳] India---News & Views

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https://www.newagebd.net/post/south-asia/304776/india-pm-modi-to-visit-indonesia-australia-new-zealand-next-week

India PM Modi to visit Indonesia, Australia, New Zealand next week
Agence France – Presse . New Delhi, India 03 July, 2026, 17:51

Indian prime minister Narendra Modi | AFP file photo

Indian prime minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to visit Indonesia, Australia and New Zealand next week, as New Delhi seeks to strengthen strategic ties in the region.

The July 8-11 tour comes after Modi’s visits to Mauritius March last year and Seychelles last month, reflecting what India’s external affairs ministry described as a shift in diplomatic focus to the eastern maritime region under its ‘Act East’ policy.

‘The focus has shifted to the eastern maritime zones of the Indian Ocean and our Act East engagement,’ senior Indian foreign ministry official Rudrendra Tandon, told reporters at a news briefing on Friday.

Modi will visit Indonesia on July 8 and 9, where he is scheduled to hold talks in Jakarta before travelling to the historic city of Yogyakarta and the UNESCO-listed Prambanan Temple complex, where India and Indonesia are planning to collaborate on conservation work.

Modi will review cooperation across a range of sectors during his visit to Indonesia, including maritime security, defence, trade and cultural ties, Tandon said.

It’s hoped this will build on talks held during Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto’s visit to India during Republic Day celebrations last year, Tandon added.

Modi will then travel to Melbourne on July 10 for the third India-Australia Annual Summit, an institutional dialogue established under the two countries’ Comprehensive Strategic Partnership launched in 2020.

Tandon said discussions would review cooperation across defence, foreign policy and trade while also focusing on newer areas including critical minerals, cybersecurity, supply chain resilience and emerging technologies.

Modi will finish the tour in New Zealand on July 11, where he will hold talks with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon.

Tandon said bilateral ties had gathered momentum since Luxon’s visit to India in 2025, describing it as ‘a kind of inflection in our relationship’.

‘This culminated in the signing of New Zealand FTA in a fairly short period of time,’ he said.

The India–New Zealand Free Trade Agreement (FTA), signed on April 27 this year, eliminated duties on 100 percent of Indian exports to New Zealand while securing a $20 billion investment commitment from New Zealand over the next 15 years.​

 

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India Cabinet approves $9.6bn offshore oil and gas exploration scheme

India has approved “Samudra Manthan”, the National Offshore Exploration Scheme, allocating Rs 84,084 crore or $9.6 billion for its implementation through FY2030-31. Chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the decision of the Inion cabinet came on Friday as countries seek to strengthen

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

India Cabinet approves $9.6bn offshore oil and gas exploration scheme

India has approved “Samudra Manthan”, the National Offshore Exploration Scheme, allocating Rs 84,084 crore or $9.6 billion for its implementation through FY2030-31.

Chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the decision of the Inion cabinet came on Friday as countries seek to strengthen energy security amid global supply uncertainties driven by geopolitical conflicts.

The initiative is designed to reduce India's dependence on imported hydrocarbons by expanding offshore exploration, increasing domestic production, and encouraging the use of advanced technologies, the Indo-Asian News Service (IANS) reports.

A statement says the government expects the programme to help discover more than 600 million metric tonnes of oil equivalent (MMTOE) in additional reserves.

It also aims to boost offshore exploration and production, create jobs, attract fresh investments across the energy value chain, strengthen domestic manufacturing under the Make in India and Atmanirbhar Bharat initiatives, and develop a globally competitive offshore services industry.

IANS reported that the scheme covers multiple stages of offshore exploration, including nationwide acquisition and interpretation of high-quality seismic data, faster drilling in deepwater and ultra-deepwater blocks, scientific exploration in frontier basins, construction of shared offshore production and evacuation facilities, and the creation of an integrated Oil and Gas Manufacturing and Services Zone.

Beyond exploration activities, the programme sets aside funding for digital project management, workforce training, technology deployment, stakeholder coordination and international collaboration.

Together, these measures are intended to create a more efficient ecosystem for offshore oil and gas development while improving the sector's long-term competitiveness, according to IANS.

The cabinet said the programme builds on a series of upstream sector reforms introduced over the past decade, including opening nearly all offshore areas for exploration, updating the legal and contractual framework, and strengthening the National Data Repository.

IANS cited the statement as saying, “Building on these reforms, Samudra Manthan will usher in a new era of accelerated offshore exploration through strategic public investment, cutting-edge technologies and world-class infrastructure.”​