India

In his first visit to New Delhi since 2021, Vladimir Putin announced an economic cooperation plan with India between now and 2030. India has been trying to balance relations between the United States, which has imposed heavy tariffs, and Russia, which remains the country's leading arms supplier. No new defence contracts were signed, but the two sides inked energy, nuclear power, shipbuilding, and labour deals, to reach US$ 100 billion in bilateral trade a year.

Sunali Khatun, who is nine months pregnant, was deported with her family to Bangladesh where they were detained as "illegal immigrants”. India’s Supreme Court slams the central government for ignoring evidence proving her Indian citizenship. New Delhi ultimately accepted her return on humanitarian grounds. This is an aberrant example of arbitrary expulsions of ethnic Bengali Muslims, especially from the state of Assam.

The testimony given in Milan on the feast of St Francis Xavier by a deacon from Telangana who is preparing to become a PIME missionary: “The Koya forest was my first seminary: there I learned that mission is not about grand speeches or extraordinary works, but about constant presence and listening to people. I don't know where I'm going, but I know who I'm going with: with Jesus alongside those who are poor, alone and forgotten”.

The Allahabad High Court has ordered the Indian state to revoke the benefit within four months. Addressing the case of a Christian, the judges ruled that maintaining the status would be ‘fraud against the Constitution’. Bishop of Berhampur: but the social and economic backwardness of Dalits persists even after conversion.

The Indian government has denied a visa to evangelical preacher Franklin Graham, son of the well-known Billy Graham, who was expected to attend an event in Kohima on 30 November. The decision has provoked harsh reactions in Nagaland, where the Naga Students' Federation denounces a ‘selective and discriminatory’ policy, especially after the relaxation of special permits for visitors who want to participate in certain cultural festivals.

On World AIDS Day, which falls each year on 1 December, the story Rev Reji Thomas, a Kerala native, highlights the plight of HIV-positive Indian children who are often abandoned by their own relatives due to social stigma. Today, his Bless Foundation, founded in 2009, cares for 28 minors, who not only found a refuge, but also the opportunity for treatment and education.

At last week's summit in Johannesburg, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi presented a six-point agenda, ranging from coordination against drug trafficking and terrorism to a new framework for critical minerals, as well as regulations on artificial intelligence. Relations with Japan, Italy, and Canada have strengthened. But while New Delhi claims a central role for emerging economies, tensions with Beijing flared up again after yet another incident related to the disputed territory of Arunachal Pradesh.

For the local elections on 9 and 11 December, the party led by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has presented an unprecedented number of Christian candidates. The Syro-Malabar Church, after a meeting with the prime minister, has invited the faithful to collaborate in the electoral review, signalling a possible rapprochement.

India's Supreme Court has confirmed the dismissal of Christian officer Samuel Kamalesan, who was accused in May of "grossest indiscipline" for refusing to participate in a Hindu ritual in his regiment. On Constitution Day, Mgr Savio Fernandes, Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Bombay, slams anti-conversion laws as tools of persecution against minorities. For him, they “invert justice” and “criminalize compassion.” India risks betraying its pluralist vision.

Indian authorities have blocked the “Tales of Kamasutra & Christmas Celebration” event after a wave of criticism from the Catholic Church and women's rights groups. The initiative, accused of offending religious sentiments, was removed by order of the police, who have opened an investigation against the organisers. Cardinal Filipe Neri Ferrao condemned the incident, calling for the protection of interreligious respect and shared community values.

Leo XIV authorised the promulgation of the decree recognising the Australian missionary as venerable, the first step toward beatification. In 1920, she obtained a special papal dispensation to overcome a canonical rule that prevented nuns from practising medicine. She also founded the Catholic Health Association of India in 1947, which now serves 21 million patients annually in its facilities.

India wants China to open a flight corridor over Xinjiang, even though the area is highly militarised. Tensions with India have led Pakistan to close its airspace to Indian aircraft, causing Air India losses estimated at over US$ 450 million a year. Meanwhile, closures of land crossings between Pakistan and Afghanistan are paralysing regional trade, leading Ariana Afghan Airlines to lower fares to Indian markets.